Syed Mohammed Arif (born 29 January 1944), popularly known as Arif Saahab, is an Indian badminton coach. He is a recipient of Dronacharya Award and Padma Shri Award by the Government of India.[1]

S. M. Arif Sahaab
Born (1944-01-29) 29 January 1944 (age 80)
NationalityIndian
OccupationBadminton Coach

Early life edit

S. M. Arif is from Hyderabad, Telangana. He received his B.Sc. from University of Hyderabad. He also played cricket at School, led Anwar ul Uloom college for four years and played for Deccan Blues in the HCA league.[2] He quit after being sidelined by his cricket coach and pursued badminton.

Career edit

S. M. Arif, during his college days, won the inter-varsity badminton championship by representing University of Hyderabad. He also represented Andhra Pradesh in several national tournaments.

He earned a diploma in badminton coaching from National Institute of Sports at Patiala. In 1974, he joined the national panel of coaches for badminton and in 1997 he was appointed as the National Chief Badminton Coach.[3] Arif coached several Indian badminton players, including the former All England Badminton Champion Pullela Gopichand,[4] the former Indian National Badminton champions P. V. V. Lakshmi, Jwala Gutta, and Saina Nehwal.

Awards edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Arjuna Award for Milkha, Abhinav; Khel Ratna for Gopichand". The Tribune. 3 August 2001. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  2. ^ "Noted badminton coach, a cricketer to the core". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  3. ^ "Coaching right". The Hindu. 19 March 2005. Archived from the original on 23 May 2005. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  4. ^ "The joy of having produced a GOPI CHAND". The Hindu. 28 May 2005. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ "Padma Awards". pib. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2013.