There was a time when Sanjiv Sachdeva was the most respected and popular badminton coach in Chennai.
As a Sports Authority of India (SAI) coach deputed to the city in 1976, Sanjiv, with a host of dedicated officials, developed the sport from scratch.
“When I completed my training in NIS Patiala, my first posting was in Chennai in 1976. The sport was not popular then. I started going to a few districts and did a few summer camps. Badminton slowly came up in Tamil Nadu. There are so many good players from Chennai now. It was because of the base we set up,” Sanjiv, who retired from SAI (Chennai) in 2009, told The Hindu during the 85th senior National championships here on Wednesday.
