Uday Pawar hails coach Dr P Pramanick on receiving PEFI lifetime achievement award

Dr P Pramanick with the PEFI lifetime achievement award

FORMER India badminton player Uday Pawar has expressed happiness over his coach, Dr P Pramanick, receiving the Dr Ajmer Singh Award (lifetime achievement in coaching), during the recent sixth PEFI national awards function in New Delhi. Pawar said the award was well deserved and makes him feel very proud.

Pawar, a four-time national doubles champion, lauded his former coach for his dedication to coaching and said Pramanick should've received the Dronacharya award too. Pawar even said Pramanick was an inspiration for him to take up coaching as a profession. "Pramanick sir first coached me when I was 11-12 years old in Lonavala. Later, we used to learn from him at IIT Powai, where he was Director of Sports. The award is very well deserved; I am very proud of him. During his time, he was considered one of the best in coaching. He was a totally dedicated coach, never charged anybody a rupee. I was inspired to such an extent that I chose to coach later on," Pawar told mid-day.com

Pawar also praised Pramanick's nature and behaviour, saying he was always level-headed and tempered. "He was very humble and down to earth, never got angry at anyone. He had a thorough understanding of the sport despite not having played competitively. His technical knowledge was exceptional. He always gave drills that would help improve our game," Pawar said.

The 1986 Asian Games bronze medallist in the men's team event also recalled winning the All India team title as captain under Pramanick's guidance. "He was the coach of the combined All India University team. Under him, we won the All India team title in 1979. I was captain of the team. But huge credit goes to him. This was when Prakash Padukone used to play for Karnataka. It was a big achievement," Pawar concluded.

Also Read: Padukone hails India's badminton overall upsurge