Tennis may be the most glamorous racket sport but, in developing countries, it is badminton that is the most widely played of all racket sports. You can play badminton on beaches, home driveways, lawns, parks, grounds etc, as well as indoors.

The greatest Pakistani achiever in badminton is Tariq Wadood, who attained a global ranking of 12 from the International Badminton Federation (IBF), now known as the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

In fact, he also reached the final of the 1979 World Championship organised by a parallel body known as the World Badminton Federation (WBF) — which only existed between 1978 and 1981 — and was ranked No 2 by it. But his ‘authentic’ highest world ranking remains 12.

The legendary shuttler, who holds two Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Environmental Engineering from US universities, has been residing in the US since 1986, with a brief period in between when he was in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s badminton legend Tariq Wadood reminisces about his glory days in the late 1970s and 1980s…

Just like the Pakistani maestros of squash, Wadood also is a Pakhtun. His father belonged to Charsadda. “He was a government servant. The family moved around the country and I was born in Lahore. During the 1960s, we lived in Chaklala. There was a big open area by the old airport where different sports were played.

“There was also a small dome-type hall called the Chaklala Club, with one badminton court there. Some players from the club were breaking into the national spotlight. They included Javed Iqbal, who won the national crown six times in the 1970s,” Wadood recalls.

Wadood started competing in badminton around 1970. “The Rawalpindi Division Badminton Championship was held at the Railways Club. A friend, Abdul Baqi, asked me to partner with him in the under-18 event, even though I was much younger than that. But his own partner could not participate for some reason. Having never played the game, I reluctantly agreed.

“As it happened, we went on to win the doubles title, mainly because of Baqi’s brilliance. The local badminton officials asked me to figure in the upcoming National Championships. In the 1971 Nationals, I appeared in the under-14 event, exceeding everyone’s expectations by reaching the semi-finals, where I was soundly beaten. In the doubles, I played the final.

“I did not participate in the 1972 Nationals because of my class 10 exams. Later that year, a squad comprising the country’s top senior and junior players was scheduled to visit China and Hong Kong. The Pakistan Badminton Federation [PBF] invited me for the trials and I was among the juniors selected. I learned a lot by playing against some of the world’s best juniors and watching world-class senior players.

“In 1973, my family moved to Peshawar but I stayed in Islamabad in a hostel for my badminton. I practised daily at the Islamabad Club, along with other budding players,” he says.

Besides badminton, Wadood also liked hockey. “I was a good enough hockey player to represent my college in Islamabad in the centre-forward position. Our goalkeeper was the legendary Syed Ghulam Moinuddin, who later won the World Cup [1982] and the Olympics [1984] with the Pakistan team,” he says.

The 1974 Badminton Nationals were held in Rawalpindi. “I reached the quarter-finals of the men’s singles and was due to play in the under-18 final, too,” says Wadood. “But the college hockey team was leaving for Sargodha for the intercollegiate tournament on the day of the under-18 badminton final. And I was keen to accompany the side.

“My mentors contended that, as I had played in the quarter-finals of the Nationals open round, I should end my participation in the junior events. Hence, I forfeited the junior finals and proceeded to Sargodha.”

Wadood was also a good student. He got admission to Peshawar University’s engineering college in 1975, to study mechanical engineering. But this posed a challenge for his sporting ambitions. “Peshawar at the time lacked facilities and good players to practise with,” he says, “so I would shuttle between Peshawar and Islamabad.

“Then another good thing happened in 1975, when PIA raised a badminton team and they offered me a contract. It enabled me to travel to tournaments in different parts of the country and continue my studies as well — my parents had told me that there should be no compromise on education,” he smiles.

In 1976, Wadood met a Chinese coach visiting Pakistan. “I had to miss college to attend a training camp, but it did me a world of good. We had no concept of physical training till then for badminton — none of us had done weight training. We were introduced to multi-shuttle drills. We even received psychological training.”

All this paid off, as Wadood played his maiden national final the same year and was the national champion the next year. The years 1977 to 1985 saw him at his peak, both on the domestic and international scene.

“I won the national singles title eight times, from 1977 to 1979 and from 1981 to 1985, and also the men’s doubles each time. Thrice, it was a triple crown, as I also annexed the mixed doubles. Then I gave a miss to the nationals in 1980 to prepare for my final year engineering exam,” he says.

Interestingly, in one of the mixed doubles national finals, his elder sister, Ghazala Wadood, was a member of the defeated pair. She also remained a national champion five times between 1983 and 1991. For three consecutive years, both brother and sister were national champions (1983-1985).

“I never paired up with my sister in the mixed doubles because we played for different departments. At one point, we both played for National Bank, but were committed to our partners, being defending champions.”

What makes Tariq Wadood immortal in the annals of Pakistan’s badminton history are his achievements in the international arena. In his day, he could defeat anyone in the world and had many distinguished scalps.

“In the 1983 World Cup, I beat the European Champion and World No 4 Jens Peter Nerhoff of Denmark. In the 1982 German Open, I defeated the Indian National Champion Syed Modi who, a few months later, won gold at the Commonwealth Games,” Wadood points out.

He even came close to beating the World No 1. “My most memorable match was against the then world No 1 Chen Changjie of China in 1981. The contest went to the wire and I narrowly lost the third game.”

Wadood says that he takes pride in being a part of Pakistan badminton’s finest team achievement, a bronze medal at the 1978 Asian Games. “The vital win came against Japan, a world power,” he says. “After a tantalising battle, we won 3-2.

“I won the first singles against Japan’s No 1 and seven-time national champion Kinji Zeniya in straight games. My partner Javed Iqbal and I won the first doubles. It came down to the last singles match, where Javed triumphed. Here, I must pay tribute to Javed, who recently passed away. He was my inspiration from day one.”

Wadood also coached the US national team. “In the mid-1980s, having retired from international badminton, I gained admission to California State University for post-graduation. I continued playing there and twice won the US Open singles and mixed doubles titles.

“Badminton was included for the first time at the Olympics in 1992. I was surprised when USA Badminton asked me to coach the US Olympic badminton team. I trained both their national men’s and women’s teams,” he says with pride.

Wadood currently lives and works as an engineer in the US. He has also authored coaching books.

“During my initial years in the US, a publishing company approached me to write a book to be taught in colleges. It took some effort, but I was able to pen Badminton Today. After several years, I was asked to do a revised edition, incorporating modern aspects of coaching, so Badminton Essentials was published in 2014.”

Tariq Wadood may live in the US now but his name will forever be written with gold in Pakistan.

The writer is a freelance sports journalist based in Lahore. He can be reached on
X @IjazChaudhry1 or
email: ijaz62@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, May 19th, 2024