In line with the Indian Army’s contribution to the upcoming Rio Olympics, Indian Naval officer, Commodore Ashutosh Pednekar has become the first Indian to win an international title in the sport of Racketlon.
With the sole focus now on potential medal winning sports, this unsung World Championship victory has gone unnoticed because of the lack of awareness of the sport in India.
Racketlon is a combination sport comprising four racket games namely table tennis, badminton, squash and lawn tennis. Despite having a small active community, the sport is relatively unknown in India. However, Racketlon has become the ultimate test for the agile athlete, in both Europe and North America.
The match comprises of 4 sets of 21 points each, with each sport being played one after the other. Pednekar recently created history by winning gold at the Super Series in Belgium.
He made the country proud by clinching a gold medal in both the men’s amateur and the veterans (+45) categories at the Nordic Racket Games held at Vejen, Denmark on May 28 and 29.
Then at prestigious Super World Tour – King of Rackets tournament held at Oudenaarde, Belgium from June 3 to 5, he once again proved himself by bagging gold in plus 45 and silver in men’s amateur category.
Commodore Ashutosh Pednekar’s passion for racket sports and perseverance has led to him becoming the first Indian in sports history to participate and win international tournaments in the sport of racketlon.
According to him, “The major problem why people don’t know about this is because there is no association. It is very popular abroad, but I think if I can create a name for India, it will rise in popularity because we love our racquet sport. I am now preparing for the World Championship to be held in Germany in December.”
He has now set his eyes on winning gold medals at World Racketlon Championships scheduled later this year in November at Germany.
