When Bollywood queens won Badminton lovers' hearts in Mumbai

Mumbai, Aug.1 : Many sports lovers were in for a special delight when Bollywood stars Deepika Padukone and Soha Ali Khan played badminton match during the Tata Open badminton tournament here.

Deepika and Soha, who have already impressed their fans by screen presence even impressed them more by playing badminton in a friendly match.

Deepika is the daughter of Prakash Padukone, who has been one of the leading Indian badminton players in the world circuit between 1976 and 1982. She has been a State level badminton player at Bangalore prior to her foray in the fashion world and Bollywood.

Sports lovers were overjoyed to watch Deepika Padukone and Soha Ali Khan demonstrating their badminton skills at the Tata Open badminton tournament, which concluded at the Bombay Gymkhana courts on Thursday (July 31).

Deepika teamed up with her father Prakash Padukone while Soha played with Aparna Balan. The match lasted about 10 minutes. No prizes for guessing, for Deepika and dad won (11-7).

"I am very happy to have come here. I love to play badminton. I have been playing badminton since my childhood. I enjoyed participating and playing in it," said Deepika Padukone.

Her paternal grandfather Ramesh also represented Mysore in the nationals during 1950s and the early sixties.

Meanwhile, Deepika's father Prakash Padukone has been the All England (considered to be the world crown) champion and also won several other tournaments around the world.

"She (Deepika) was quite good. She was not the no.1, she was no.3 or 4 in the State but she used to play very regularly until she reached the 10th standard but she has not played for a long time...I mean after that she went into modeling and then got into films," said Prakash Padukone.

Soha expressed that she has always been a big sports lover and so it felt great to play a match with the professional players.

"I have always loved badminton. I played it in school a lot. I played it at university. I haven't ever played it at such a professional level before with the professional players like Prakash Padukone and Deepika Padukone. It was great fun because I am a huge fan of the sport," said Soha Ali Khan, the Bollywood actress. By Sharik Sheikh

ANI