Date:16/10/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/10/16/stories/2006101605822000.htm

Sport - Badminton

Reminiscence of a bygone era

Principal Correspondent

Bangalore: Two legends indulged in some feather-touch, some banter and some battle at the KBA Courts here on Sunday.

Prakash Padukone and Morten Frost played an exhibition match that whipped nostalgia of a bygone era. Padukone won the match 11-8.

More than the result, the spirit in which the match was played will linger in the minds of the, who thronged the venue.

Prakash pointed out after the match, "it was just a fun match. Perhaps Morten gave me more chances, perhaps he did not want to disappoint my fans. Hope everyone enjoyed the game though we showed only glimpses of what we were capable of in our younger days."

His rival and friend Frost earlier said with a touch of humility, "as I keep saying always, Prakash is a great player and it was nice to see so many people turn up to see two old people play."

Prakash breezed to a 7-0 lead as Frost struggled to hold serve and found his drops going awry.

Perhaps Frost was tiring, as he had just finished his opening match against Ravinder Singh. Frost lost 10-15 to Ravinder, but the youngster had to battle hard for a victory against the former World No.1.

Meanwhile, Prakash was dishing out his vintage touch-play as he covered the angles, used his wrists deceptively and dominated.

Frost, however, was in no mood to capitulate and he hustled Prakash into errors and drew level at 7-7.

Frost found his smashes and drops revving to form and the match was poised on the razors edge.

However, Frost, in his bid for the low-angled serve, failed to maintain the momentum and eventually Prakash won.

Later, Frost teamed up with Vinod Kumar, and defeated Prakash and Vimal Kumar 21-20 in a match rich in rallies that were often closed with angled drops near the net.