Prakash Padukone steps back as iconic badminton academy renamed Centre for Badminton Excellence
After more than three decades since its inception, the famous Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy no longer carries the name of the legendary shuttler, who won the 1980 All England title to mark a watershed moment in Indian sporting history.
From October 1, one of India’s most famous badminton centres, where the likes of P. Gopichand and Saina Nehwal once trained, and now P.V. Sindhu and Lakshya Sen continue to spruce up their games, has been re-christened Centre for Badminton Excellence (CBE) after Padukone decided to step down.
Founded in 1994 by the trio of Padukone, former National champion and Dronacharya awardee U. Vimal Kumar, and industrialist and sports promoter Vivek Kumar, the erstwhile PPBA trained India’s elite and was one of the country’s National badminton centres.
With Padukone now focusing his energies on the Padukone School of Badminton (PSB), an entrepreneurial venture with daughter Deepika, Vimal and Vivek will be fully in-charge of the CBE.
The sprawling Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence on the city’s outskirts, which housed the erstwhile PPBA, will now have both the CBE and a unit of the PSB under one roof.
“Prakash had been indicating it for a while and he wanted to move away from the excellence side towards school training,” Vimal told Sportstar on Tuesday. “But the players, the coaches all remain the same.”
“It is a bit nostalgic for me. We were among the first private academies to be set up in 1994. We just named it after Prakash because no other name was required.
“We have grown a lot since then and have better facilities. Vivek has been of excellent support. Our sponsors, Infosys Foundation, continue to be the same. Our academy was never a commercial program, and we are committed to training India’s best,” Vimal added.
Published on Dec 02, 2025