Days after badminton legend Prakash Padukone criticised player Lakshya Sen for losing his bronze-medal playoff at the Paris Olympics on Monday despite an early lead, his son-in-law Ranveer Singh has come forward to congratulate Sen for his brilliant performance.
Padukone, dismayed by Sen’s loss in the bronze-medal match, urged players on Monday to “introspect” and ask themselves whether they are doing enough to win Olympic medals. “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,” he said.
One of the co-founders of Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation dedicated to the promotion of Olympic sports in India, 69-year-old Padukone added, “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.” Padukone asserted that he was “not happy” with Sen’s surrender to Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in his bronze-medal match after taking an early lead.
Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, Prakash Padukone’s daughter Deepika Padukone’s husband Ranveer Singh commended Sen and noted that he “missed out narrowly in a game of extremely small margins.” Sharing a photo of Lakshya Sen to his Instagram stories, the Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani actor wrote, “What a player! What endurance, What agility, What a range of shots, What focus, What grit, What smarts, Scintillating badminton on display! Its difficult to encapsulate just how brilliant he’s been at the Olympics. Missed out narrowly in a game of extremely small margins. But he’s only 22 and he’s just getting started.” Ranveer’s post came after Padukone said that players “cannot keep asking for more and more and more.”
Ranveer Singh commended Lakshya Sen and noted that he “missed out narrowly in a game of extremely small margins.”
When asked if players were pampered to the extent that it affected their drive to win, Padukone said, “Maybe, to some extent. That (pampering) is also required. I hope the players also realise… when you ask for certain things, they also need to deliver. If they don’t deliver, then I think you need to be a little firm. Maybe the federation or the government can be. Let’s be frank.”
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