India, Dec. 2 -- After helming the iconic Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) for more than three decades, the 70-year-old badminton great has decided to step away from the academy he started with the institute's name changed to Centre for Badminton Excellence (CBE).

"Prakash wanted to retire and concentrate on other ventures, primarily the Padukone School of Badminton (PSB) which focuses on grassroot level badminton programmes," CBE's head coach U Vimal Kumar told HT from Mumbai on Tuesday.

"He had been expressing his thoughts for quite some time and then took the decision. Everything remains the same at the now called CBE. We will continue to identify players who can rise to the top. CBE will keep functioning the same way."

PPB...