New Delhi: The book ‘SMASH! The Rise of Indian Badminton: Stories of Grit and Triumph’ by Benedict Paramanand is a story about how Indian badminton emerged as a global powerhouse in over a decade.
Published by Notion Press, the book will be released on 9 July on ‘Soft Cover’, ThePrint’s e-venue to launch select non-fiction books.
The book details the journey that created many badminton world champions in India such as Prakash Padukone, Pullela Gopichand, P.V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Jwala Gutta, Kidambi Srikanth and others. It focuses on who played pivotal roles in their journey and helped them emerge as world champions.
Paramanand also goes into the shortcomings that could slow the rise of the sport in India and how they can be addressed.
The book also focuses on the secrets of these champions, their coaches, how to bounce back from setbacks as well as how to and how not to lead a team.
Paramanand is a journalist, biographer and media entrepreneur who also has an e-magazine called sustainabilitynext.in. He has written books on corporate strategist C.K. Prahalad, religious leader Baba Iqbal Singh and ‘How Indian Business Went Global’.
“I hope people learn a lot about the history of Indian badminton from this book”, said Jwala Gutta, the Indian Doubles Champion.
While Pullela Gopichand, the national badminton coach in India, said, “This book has knowledgable insights into the present and the future of the sport.”
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