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Xtra Time Web Desk:Ashwini Ponnappa responds to Prakash Padukone's critique of Indian badminton team. 

Veteran shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa has strongly criticized Prakash Padukone's remarks about the Indian badminton contingent's performance at the Paris Olympics 2024. In a candid Instagram post, Ponnappa took issue with Padukone's assertion that the players had not given their best, emphasizing that such criticism unfairly places the blame solely on the athletes.

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Ponnappa argued that coaches, who often take credit when players succeed, should also be held accountable for inadequate preparation and support when results fall short.

She highlighted that winning is a collective effort and that losses should also be viewed as a shared responsibility between players and their coaching teams.

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This reaction followed Padukone’s comments after Lakshya Sen’s loss in the men’s singles bronze medal match to Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia. The Indian badminton team returned from Paris without a medal for the first time since 2008. Notably, other top players like PV Sindhu and the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also exited early from their events.