The first badminton player in history to earn 1 million US Dollar prize money in a single year!
South Korea’s An Seyoung reached a height in world badminton’s history that no badminton player has been able to achieve. She became the first-ever badminton player to take home more than USD 1 million as prize money in a single year. She clinched the BWF World Tour Finals title on Sunday, which had a reward of 240,000 US Dollar, which took her total prize money for the year to 1,003,175 US Dollar. The World Tour Finals crown was An’s 11th title of the season. An has created another magnificent statistic which shows that her Sunday’s win against Wang Zhi Yi in Hangzhou was her 74th of the season in 77 matches! According to BWF, that win percentage is the best for any player, for those who have played a minimum of 60 matches in a season in the Super Series or World Tour era. An already legendary Lin Dan’s 92.75 percent triumph, made in 2011. An Seyoung also set a new mark of clinching 11th title in a single year in 2025, equalling legendary Japanese men’s player Kento Komota’s most titles in a single year.
Prakash Padukone steps away from PPBA; Joins Padukone School of Academy set up by his daughter Deepika
After gracing the post of founder and managing director for more than three decades, iconic Prakash Padukone stepped away from Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA). The 70-year-old badminton legend has already joined a new venture named Padukone School of Badminton (PSB), which has been introduced by his daughter, actress Deepika Padukone. PSB has also started centres in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi NCR, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh. While Prakash Padukone is the mentor of PSB, former India shuttler Aditya Prakash is the head coach. As its aftermath, PPBA’s name has been changed to Centre for Badminton Excellence (CBE). “Prakash wanted to retire and concentrate on other ventures, primarily the Padukone School of Badminton (PSB), which focuses on grassroots-level badminton programs,” CBE’s head coach U Vimal Kumar revealed. PPBA, co-founded in 1994 by Padukone, Vimal and Vivek Kumar, will continue to operate from the Centre for Sports Excellence, Bengaluru, with its current coaching team led by Vimal Kumar and supported by former India international Sagar Chopda, DK Sen (Lakshya Sen’s father), Umendra Singh Rana and international coaches Yong Sung Yoo and Irwansyah Adi Pratama. Lakshya Sen, the most famous product of PPBA, will continue to train at CBE with South Korean coach Yong while two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu will resume training with Indian women’s coach Irwansyah after she recovers from injury. Other Indian badminton players who train at CBE are Ayush Shetty, Kiran George, Devika Sihag and Isha Rani Barua. Prakash, while reacting to The Indian Express on his decision to quit PPBA, said, “This has not been an easy decision; it is one I arrived at after considerable reflection and after carefully weighing all the pros and cons. It was a privilege to work alongside the coaching teams, athletes, and partners over the past 3 decades. I remain deeply grateful for the trust and collaboration extended to me.”
