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Indian women's doubles badminton star Ashwini Ponnappa slammed Indian sporting legend Prakash Padukone for his "players need to step up" comments after shuttler Lakshya Sen lost in the bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics 2024. With Sen's defeat, the Indian badminton contingent's Summer Games' concluded without a single medal.
This remains a massive disappointment as the Indian shuttles were touted for winning multiple medals in Paris based on recent performance in the international circuit. Hence after this campaign, Padukone hit out at the players for not delivering on the results despite a lot of support from the other stakeholders.
Why aren't coaches held responsible for lack of preparation: Ponnappa
Responding to these comments, Ashwini Ponnappa shared an Instagram story where she expressed how results are the responsibility of every member of the team and one can't just put the players "under the bus." Ponnappa wrote, "Disappointing to see this. If a player wins, everyone jumps on the bandwagon to take credit, and if they lose, it's just the player's fault?!"
"Why aren't coaches held responsible for lack of preparation and getting the player ready? They are the first ones to take credit for wins; why not take responsibility for their players' losses as well? At the end of the day, winning takes team effort and losing is also the team's responsibility. You can't suddenly push the player under the bus and blame it all on the player."
I think the players also need to take responsibility: Prakash Padukone
Coming back to Prakash Padukone, the 1992 All-England Open winner said, “I am a little disappointed in our performance that we could not even get a single medal from Badminton. Like I have said before, we were contenders for three medals so at least one would have made me happy. But having said this, this time the Government, Sports Authority of India, and Sports Ministry everybody has done their best and I don't think anyone could have done anything more than what the Government has done so I think the players also need to take responsibility."
“He played well but of course, I am a little disappointed, he could not finish it yesterday too, he was in a winning position in the first game, and could have probably made a difference yesterday itself. After winning the first game he was leading 8-3 today, he has always been a little uncomfortable playing on the faster side so he has to work on that,” concluded Padukone.
