Bagga’s achievements
ring loud and clear
Times News Network
MUMBAI: “He has always shown nerves of steel and
cool temperament on the court.”
This
was the observation of the former international and
president of the Maharashtra Badminton
Association
Pradeep Gandhe at Rajeev Bagga’s felicitations
organised by the state body of Schools Sports Centre,
on Saturday.
It was a fitting tribute to Bagga, who has been named
as Sportsman of the Century in the deaf category by the
Committee International des Sports des Sourds, a world
body, which looks after sports among deaf sportsmen.
Bagga
has a spate of achievements to his credit. “He
is the only player from Maharashtra after the great Nandu
Natekar to have won the National men’s singles
titles (he won twice in 1992 and 1993) so far,” Gandhe
pointed out while lauding Bagga.
It
was a well-attended evening, with former stars Sanjay
Sharma, Ami Ghia Shah and Leroy
D’Sa also present.
Gandhe
added, “I still vividly
remember Bagga making his debut in seniors in the West
Zone inter-state
championships against Gujarat in 1985. We were 2-all.
And Bagga was playing the deciding tie. He was trailing
6-14 in the third and final game.
“The
Gujarat supporters anticipating victory, were all boisterous.
But nothing affected
him. He coolly
fought back and caught his opponent at 14-all and then
went on to win the tie at 18-17 and the title for the
state. How adversity brought the best out of him spoke
volumes of his determination and dedication.”
But then Bagga, an officer at Hindustan Petroleum, despite
being a handicapped sportsman, has done remarkably well
over a period of time.
He had won the sub-junior squash National title in 1981
before deciding to switch to badminton. The versatile
right-hander was also successful at tennis.
Apart from being ranked No.36 in world (in 1992), he
represented the country in the Thomas Cup, All-England
championships and many other international events.
And to top them all he has been world No.1 for the deaf
since 1989. He has, among others, been a recipient of
the Shiv Chhatrapati award (1986) and the Arjuna Award
(1993).
Source: NINAD
Issue: Dated April’01-Dec’01
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