For the first time since 2012, Indian badminton returned from the Olympics empty-handed. Lakshya Sen finished fourth.

Paris: Shocked by the way Lakshya Sen succumbed to pressure in the bronze medal play-off at the Paris Olympics 2024, veteran Prakash Padukone on Monday said it was time for athletes to bear the pressure, become responsible and start delivering results after receiving support. The former All England champion said that India should focus on training its players mentally, so that they can learn to cope with pressure situations.

He also suggested that there should be a system, like the one in China, where they are not dependent on one player and succeed in picking out players. “We cannot be satisfied with just one player. You need to focus on the next line, maybe even the third line. As they do in cricket. You have the main team, then the 'A' team, then the under-19 team, the under-17 team. So you need to focus. There is a lot of talent, no doubt but a concerted effort is required,” he told reporters.

“And a bit of effort from the players as well. A little more responsibility, a little more responsibility. Don't just ask. Once it is given to you, you also have to be responsible. I think players should learn to take responsibility.” Sen lost the opening game advantage and raced to an 8-3 lead in the second game to overcome Malaysia's Li Jia Jia 21-13, 16-21, 11-21 in a 71-minute match.

Padukone said the 22-year-old from Almora needs both mental training and game improvement. When he is playing with the wind, he has to do a little work. Everyone has problems but I think he has more problems than others. If you look at the first game, the Malaysian went out playing a lot. It happens because you are not in control but you should learn to control and make less mistakes.

“Mistakes will happen, everyone is comfortable playing against the wind because you can play freely without any hesitation but the target probably needs both. He needs to work on the court a little bit of mental training and focus on mental training as well as a little bit of practice and a little bit better control.”

For Padukone, the pressure was on Sen, which dissipated when Lee unleashed her power-packed strokes. “Earlier we were not even making it to fourth place. One thing is very clear, we should focus more on training the mind. We don't pay enough attention to sports psychology which is very important,” Padukone said.

“In the Olympics, if you have seen many top athletes lose, it is not because they were not technically or physically good, but because they could not handle the pressure. “Olympics is about dealing with pressure, so it's important that we pay more attention to the mind, meditate, do yoga.”

Padukone felt that shooter Manu Bhakar might perform better as she was under no pressure. “People who are favorites are always under pressure and have not performed as expected. Even in previous Olympics most of our medals have come from people who did not expect anything because there was no pressure.”

India has hired many foreign coaches and Padukone, who coached PV Sindhu, said it was time for India to bring in sports psychologists from abroad. “We also have foreign sports psychologists. This is not to take anything away from the Indian sports psychologist. Some of them are good but I think it's time players also understand the importance of sports psychology,” he said.

“It can't be done just three months before the Olympics, or if someone wants to do well in the next Olympics, they have to start now and get it done. It only makes a difference.” Padukone did not agree that Indian badminton is facing a similar situation as tennis, where there is a huge gap and no one can replace Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza.

“I don't think it's as bad as it is in tennis. We have players. Maybe some of them are still too young. We should focus on them. It has generally happened in Indian sports that when we get a star, there is too much focus on one player and we don't pay enough attention to the next row of players.

“That is where the federation needs to focus a little more. There is a big gap in women's singles. In men's singles, Lakshya is still young, Priyanshu (Rajavat) is doing well. I'm not saying it's good enough but at least there's some talent. But of women, I see there are 3-4 young girls in it. Maybe some of them are 13, 14, 16, 17 years old. So I don't know if they will be ready for the next Olympics, but we need to identify such talent.”