Hoopdarshan Episode 100: Century Celebrations with Padma Shri Anitha Pauldurai

It's episode 100! A time for the Hoopdarshan, India's truest basketball podcast, to celebrate our century. In this landmark episode, co-hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok discuss the podcast's highlights over the past 5 years, interview Indian basketball's Padma Shri awardee Anitha Pauldurai, and add the film Chhalaang to the Indian Basketball Movie Database. 

A resident of Chennai, Pauldurai is one of the greatest hoopers in Indian basketball history. The guard/forward has been a regular in the national team for nearly two decades, and has captained India to a number of past glories. She became only the second basketball player in India to receive the Padma Shri award in 2021. 

Episode 100 also features a conversation about India Men's upcoming FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, a shake-up in the domestic basketball structure, the exploits of Princepal Singh for G-League's Ignite, and much more.

   

 

Hoopdarshan is the truest voice of Indian basketball, and since we're such hopeless fans of the game, it will become the voice of everything basketball related we love, from the NBA to international hoops, too. On every episode of Hoopdarshan, we will be inviting a special guest to interview or chat to about a variety of topics. With expert insight from some of the brightest and most-involved people in the world of Indian basketball, we hope to bring this conversation to a many more interested fans, players, and followers of the game.

Make sure to follow Hoopdarshan on Soundcloud or search for 'Hoopdarshan' on the iTunes Store! Auto-sync Hoopdarshan to your preferred podcast app NOW!

Hoopdarshan can be found on...

• - iTunes: Hoopdarshan 
• - Hoopdarshan on Soundcloud 
• - On Twitter: @Hoopdarshan 
• - Facebook.com/Hoopdarshan 

Prashanti Singh: Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame

A national captain. A veteran of countless major international events. The most-decorated domestic player in India. An Arjuna Awardee. And Indian Basketball's only Padma Shri winner. With her glittering list of accolades, Prashanti Singh now easily carves her name into the Hoopistani Indian Basketball Hall of Fame.

Born in Varanasi, Singh quickly rose the ranks for the Uttar Pradesh junior teams before finding her footing in college and MTNL for the Delhi state team. Is was with Delhi that she became the most-decorated basketball player in the country, winning 23 medals in various national championships.

The shooting guard first joined India's junior national team in 2002 at age 18. She soon graduated to feature and captain the senior squad, and went on to represent Team India at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games, and six FIBA Asia Women’s Championships (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013), plus one more at the junior level. Some of her career highlights include a dominant performance against Korea Samsung that handed India an unlikely victory at the 2011 William Jones Cup and being part of India's 2013 FIBA Asia Championship squad that finished at a best-ever fifth place in the tournament.

Over the years, Singh has garnered various honours for her service to the country and to the game, including the Padma Shri in 2019 (the first and only Indian basketball player to receive this award), the 2017 Arjuna Award (only the third women to receive it in basketball), and the 2016-17 Rani Laxmi Bai Bravery Award. Prashanti is one of the five of Varanasi's "Singh Sisters", four of whom have represented India's national women's team.

Click here for more of the Indian Basketball Hall of Fame.

Prashanti Singh becomes the first basketball player to receive the prestigious Padma Shri award

Just when it seemed unlikely that her brilliant career could be exalted even higher, former Indian basketball captain Prashanti Singh from Varanasi has become the first basketball player in history to be handed the Padma Shri award! The Padma Shri is the fourth-highest civilian honour for Indian citizens and is handed annually on the Republic Day celebrations.

94 individuals from the fields of arts, medicine, science, sports, social work, social sciences, and more were conferred this year's Padma Shri on Saturday, January 26, 2019. Prashanti, who last year became only the third women to win the Arjuna Award in basketball two years ago, was among the eight sports stars named in this year's Padma Shri list. The rest included World Cup-winning cricketer Gautam Gambhir, India football captain Sunil Chhetri, World Championship silver medallist wrestler Bajrang Punia, Dronavalli Harika (Chess), Sharath Kamal (Table Tennis), Bombayla Devi Laishram (Archery), and Ajay Thakur (Kabaddi).

Singh, a 34-year-old former shooting guard for India's national team, is the most decorated women basketball player in India, holding the national record for most number of medals (22) in national championships for Delhi while she was an employee for MTNL. She has represented the national team in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games, and six FIBA Asia Women’s Championships (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013), plus one more at the junior level.

Prashanti Singh is among the star-studded "Singh Sisters" of Varanasi, four of whom have represented India's national team and brought home numerous international and domestic honours.

Singh's Padma Shri award is a pleasant surprise, especially considering that there have been several great basketball players throughout Indian history in both Men's and Women's divisions - including Khushi Ram, Abbas Moontasir, Ajmer Singh, Geethu Anna Rahul, and many more who are still active - who have been deserving, but were never conferred this honour.