Sport, regardless of whether it is an individual discipline or a team event requires heroes for it to garner fans. Heroes, hard-nosed enough to thrive in clutch situations. Heroes, who by the sheer weight of their success find a place in the local folklore and transform into idols.
Idols that influence the ones sitting in the comfort of their living rooms at a self-controlled temperature, sensitive enough to a degree of change to the ones unmoved even to a significant rise in mercury alike.
It's these heroes turned idols that act as catalysts and pull crowds to provide a sport the fandom it enjoys.
Similarly, the sport of badminton required its own set of heroes to deepen its roots in India, after failing to draw much attention despite being historically played in the country for thousands of years.
As fairytale as it may sound, it did manage to win people over in the country as new heroes emerged across generations and gave the nation reasons to admire the sport. On that note, let's look at the five most memorable moments in India's badminton history since independence.
Prakash Padukone's supremacy at the All England Open 1980
March 23, 1980, will certainly go down in history as one of the most historic days in India's badminton. A young Indian shuttler Prakash Padukone at just 24 years of age did something that no Indian had even dreamt of till then. The Bangalore-born became the first shuttler from India to win the All-England Open - the most prestigious tournament in the sport back in the day.
Padukone was tasked with defeating Indonesia's star shuttler Liem Swie King, who had already won the event twice before taking on Padukone in the summit clash. The fixture was anticipated to be a thriller since both players were coming into the final without dropping a single game throughout the course of the tournament.
In the end, it turned out to be a cakewalk for Padukone as he won in straight sets 15-3 15-10. His win is a landmark event in India's badminton history as it led to the surge in popularity of the sport in the country.
Pullela Gopichand's win at the All England Open 2001
After a wait of more than two decades, an Indian shuttler gave yet another reason for the masses in India to pick up the racket again. Pullela Gopichand overcame the despair of the Sydney Olympics (2000) and a chronic knee issue to rewrite history at the All England Open 2001.
At the beginning of the tournament, no one considered Gopichand to be in the running for the title and he being seeded as low as 10th somewhat justified the same.
The ace Indian shuttler breezed past his opponents throughout the tournament and secured the final berth without dropping a game.
Gopichand took on Chen Hong of China in the title decider. Hong was not as big a threat to the Indian as some of the adversaries he had conquered on his way to the summit clash but the Chinese was riding on the crest of some red-hot form.
Hong made multiple jaws drop when he defeated the silver medalist of the Sydney Olympics Hendrawan. Hence, it didn't seem to be an easy walk to the title for Gopichand. However, the Andhra-born made it look effortless in the finale as he steamrolled his opponent 15-12 15-6 to attain the greatest achievement of his career.
2016 Rio Olympics: PV Sindhu's Silver Medal
Pusarla Venkata Sindhu has now become a household name in India. Her popularity has risen to such an enormous extent that it has prevailed the social and religious divide in a country of almost 1.4 billion people.
She is the new poster girl of the sport in the country and has scaled such heights that kids nowadays identify with the sport because of her association with the same.
However, back in 2016 when the Indian contingent was hankering for gold at the Rio Olympics, people didn't have their hopes pinned on Sindhu. Yes! As odd as it may sound to the ears now, Sindhu was not the one carrying the hopes of billions of Indians around the globe when the tournament began, it was the bronze medalist from the London Olympics - Saina Nehwal.
Nehwal entered the mega event with a wide array of expectations but an eye-popping group stage exit after an agonizing loss to World No 61 Maria Ulitina of Ukraine put an end to her ephemeral run and her hopes of changing the colour of her medal. Saina's shock exit saw those who were hopeful of a medal at the global event lose interest but little did they know of what was to unfold.
Standing 1.79 metres above the ground but still eclipsed by Saina's gigantic stature, Sindhu made rapid strides towards a goal she shared with her eliminated compatriot. As her scorching smash gained momentum, numerous medal contenders came tumbling down and Sindhu confirmed herself a historic silver after edging out Japan's Nozomi Okuhara.
Assured of a historic silver, Sindhu entered the summit clash. Awaiting her in the finale was the then world No. 1 Carolina Marin. The push for gold was not going to be easy with the Spaniard blocking her way but still Sindhu gave her best on the day. However, her best didn't turn out to be good enough as a billion hopes came crashing down alongside Sindhu's when Marin sealed the game 21, 21-12, 21-15.
World Badminton Championships 2019: PV Sindhu wins gold
The silver at Rio gave Sindhu the fame she deserved and made her the new queen of Indian badminton.
However, it also brought a new set of expectations with itself and she ended up becoming the second best in several events i.e. the Commonwealth Games 2018, Asian Games 2018 and the most heartbreaking of them all was the epic final of the World Badminton Championships in 2017 when she went down 19-21, 22-20, 20-22 to Nozomi Okuhara.
These close finishes allowed her critics to term her the second best and not good enough to be a champion - an opinion that was destined to change.
It did and that too soon enough. India's new poster girl of badminton basked in her hard-earned moment of glory as she defeated Okuhara in the final of the World Badminton Championships 2019 21-7 21-7. The win made her the first Indian ever to clinch gold at the prestigious event and also helped her shed the moniker of Silver Sindhu.
India's Thomas Cup Glory
The Indian Men's team comprising a spirited bunch of individuals did the unthinkable when it stunned 14-time winners Indonesia to win one of the most coveted tournaments in the history of the sport - Thomas Cup (2022).
India's Lakshya Sen, a prodigious talent, gave India a remarkable beginning in the final with a hard-fought win over Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 8-21, 21-17, 21-16 in the first men's singles match.
It then came to the firebrand pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty to make its presence feel. The duo saved four match points before defeating Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21, 23-21, 21-19 to give India a 2-0 lead.
It all came down to the calm headed and the former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth and he didn't let down either. Srikanth got the better of Jonatan Christie 21-15 23-21 to give millions of Indian badminton fans a reason to be ecstatic like never before as the country clinched its first-ever Thomas Cup title.
