Venting his frustration over Indian badminton stars’ near misses at the Paris Olympics, Prakash Padukone on Monday said it was time for players to learn to withstand pressure, become responsible and start delivering results after receive support. Padukone’s comments came after Lakshya Sen succumbed to pressure in her bronze medal match against Lee Zii Jia, meaning the entire Indian badminton contingent drew a blank at the Paris Games. However, Indian shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa, part of India’s badminton contingent at the 2024 Olympics, is not happy to see Padukone throwing shuttlecocks under the bus.
“It’s disappointing to see this. If a player wins, everyone jumps on the bandwagon to get the credit, and if they lose, it’s just the player’s fault?!” Ponnappa wrote in an Instagram story.
“Why aren’t coaches held accountable for a player’s lack of preparation and preparation? They are the first to receive credit for victories; Why not also take responsibility for your players’ losses? Team effort and defeat are also the team’s responsibility. You can’t suddenly push the player under the bus and blame the player for everything.
Ashwini Ponnappa’s two cents on yesterday’s statement where Padukone sir indirectly gave a stern message to Lakshya and the other athletes. pic.twitter.com/3aDYw0loJT
-Valmoth (@valmoth1) August 6, 2024
The former England champion said India should focus on training the minds of its athletes so that they can learn to face pressure situations.
He also suggested that there should be a system in place, like in China, where they are not dependent on one player and are able to produce players.
“We can’t be satisfied with just one player. We need to focus on the next line, maybe even the third line. Like they do in cricket. You have the senior team, then the ‘A’ team, then the under-19 team, under-19 team -17 So we need to focus. There is a lot of talent, there is no doubt, but a joint effort is needed,” he told reporters.
“And a little bit of effort from the players as well. A little bit more responsibility, a little bit more responsibility. Not just asking for what you ask for. Once you get that, you also have to be accountable. I think the players have to learn to take responsibilities.” Sen squandered a lead in the opening game and an 8-3 lead in the second to lose 21-13, 16-21, 11-21 to Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in the 71-minute clash.
Padukone said the 22-year-old from Almora needs both – mental training as well as game improvement.
“He needs to work a little when he’s playing with the wind. Everyone has problems, but I think he has more problems than others. If you saw the first game, the Malaysian played a lot of them and was eliminated. You were, weren’t you? able to control, then it happens, but you must learn to control and make fewer mistakes.
“Mistakes will happen, everyone feels comfortable playing against the wind because you can play freely without any hesitation, but Lakshya probably needs both. A little mental training and focus on mental training, plus a little practice and a little better control, he needs to work on the court too.” For Padukone, it was the pressure that got to Sen, who wilted as Lee delivered his powerful blows. “Earlier we didn’t even reach number four. One thing is very clear: we need to focus more on mental training. We don’t pay enough attention to sports psychology, which is very important,” Padukone said.
“At the Olympics, if you saw a lot of top players lost, not because they weren’t good technically or physically, but because they couldn’t handle the pressure.
“The Olympics are all about dealing with pressure, so it’s even more important that we pay more attention to the mind, do meditation, yoga.” Padukone felt that shooter Manu Bhaker could probably do well because she was not under pressure.
“People who are favorites are always under pressure and haven’t done as well as expected. Most of our medals, even in previous Olympics, have come from people we didn’t expect anything from because there is no pressure.”
India has hired several foreign coaches and Padukone, who coaches PV Sindhu, said it is time for India to bring in sports psychologists from abroad.
“It’s about time we have foreign sports psychologists too. This doesn’t take anything away from the Indian sports psychologist. Some of them are good, but I think it’s time you know that players also realize the importance of sports psychology,” he said.
“This cannot be done just three months before the Olympics or if someone wants to perform well in the next Olympics they have to start now and be at it all the time, only then will it make a difference.”
With PTI inputs
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This story originally appeared on ndtv.com read the full story
