FORMER India badminton player Uday Pawar has expressed happiness over his coach, Dr P Pramanick, receiving the Dr Ajmer Singh Award (lifetime achievement in coaching), during the recent sixth PEFI national awards function in New Delhi. Pawar said the award was well deserved and makes him feel very proud.

Pawar, a four-time national doubles champion, lauded his former coach for his dedication to coaching and said Pramanick should’ve received the Dronacharya award too. Pawar even said Pramanick was an inspiration for him to take up coaching as a profession. “Pramanick sir first coached me when I was 11-12 years old in Lonavala. Later, we used to learn from him at IIT Powai, where he was Director of Sports. The award is very well deserved; I am very proud of him. During his time, he was considered one of the best in coaching. He was a totally dedicated coach, never charged anybody a rupee. I was inspired to such an extent that I chose to coach later on,” Pawar told mid-day.com