Maybe, the players are not working hard enough to win Olympic medals – Prakash Padukone feels athletes need to take onus for their performance

Badminton legend and Lakshya Sen’s coach Prakash Padukone spoke firmly after his ward failed to bag the Bronze medal in the ongoing Paris Olympics. With it, India’s badminton campaign ended at the Games without any medals to show for it.

Sen won the opening game against Malaysia’s Lee Jii Zia convincingly by 21-13 and took an 8-3 lead in the second game as he looked in command. But, the 22-year-old Indian once again wilted under pressure despite enjoying a healthy lead. The Malaysian shuttler won the next nine points on the bounce to keep himself in the match. 

Padukone wants the players to take more onus of their results and stop asking more from the federation and the government.

“Maybe, you know, the players are not working hard enough. Maybe, it is not enough to get a medal at the Olympics. So you (players) need to work also,” Padukone said after Lakshya Sen squandered an early advantage to lose his bronze-medal playoff on Monday.

The former World No.1 added that the players are getting top facilities and they can not ask for more.

“You have a full sports science support team. Each of the players has their own physios, strength-and- conditioning trainers and nutritionists. How much more can you do? I don’t think any other country… including the US and all, will have so much facilities.”

The federations, Padukone added, “need to focus more on the next line while you continue to support” (the current stars). “Like what China does. They don’t depend only on one. By the time the one top player retires, they already have 4-5 of them in each of the events, focus on them and give them all the encouragement,” he said.

India has bagged three Bronze medals so far in the Paris Olympics 2024 and all of them have come in shooting. But India has unfortunately finished fourth in five events, which has added salt to injury.