Arjuna turns 100 years old

Warangal: No one in his wildest dreams could have imagined that Jammalamadaka Pitchaiah, who started his journey from Kuchipudi for a living way back in the year of Indian Independence, would one day become a jewel in the crown of Warangal. The grand old man of Badminton is not only the oldest surviving Arjuna Award recipient in the country but also has become a centurion on Friday.

Kuchipudi in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh that gave birth to Kuchipudi classical dance is also the birthplace of Pitchaiah. He was born to Nagamma and Punnaiah on December 21, 1918. In his childhood, he used to play football, volleyball, basketball alongside badminton. He had participated in School Games in Guntur and Elur.

He first visited Warangal in 1945 in search of livelihood. Later, he came back to Warangal again in 1947. After working with Azam Jahi Mills for a brief period, he started a sports articles shop christened as Warangal Sports, which later became Pitchaiah Sports.

Pitchiah, who started his badminton career in 1932, represented in 14 nationals between 1955 and 1970 and had won nine titles. In all, he had participated in about 1,300 tourneys and excelled in majority of them. He has the unique record of registering a hat-trick of National titles for Hyderabad and Andhra separately.

Playing against Madras’ great player Dakshina Murthy, he won best player award in Gudivada in 1939. He also won first Madras State Championship in 1951. Even though Pitchaiah ran a sports outlet for a living, his passion for badminton never diminished. He has received several awards such as Wizard of Ball Badminton (1958) and Star of India (1966).

Pitchiah had to wait for a long time to get Arjuna Award. At the age of 53 soon after playing his last national, he received Arjuna Award from the Government of India. In 1997, he received the first NTR Award for the Best Sportsperson from the then Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. In the same year, he also received Pratibha Puraskar Award from Guru Shivananda Murthy.

Pitchaiah who even played badminton at the age of 90 years is now restricted to his residence in Bank Colony, Warangal. Speaking to The Hans India on turning 100 years Pitchaiah said: “It’s all because of people’s blessings and my family members’ love and affection.” Talking on badminton, he recalled that it was a difficult period to pursue sports.

No money no sponsors in those days. Even though badminton is a poor man’s game, it’s slowly losing patronage due to cricket. I have seen the times when people used to pay gate fee to see badminton in Madurai and Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. In those days, badminton tourneys in Madurai were equated with Wimbledon’s tennis championship, he added. Pitchaiah is now living with his younger daughter V Janaki. His wife Satyavathi died a decade ago.

Meanwhile, former Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihari, Warangal East MLA-elect Nannapuneni Narender and former SAAP Director Rajanala Srihari who met the badminton legend Pitchaiah on his 100th birthday on Friday wished him a long life.