Badminton afficionado still going strong in his 50s

Dubai: Shafi Ul Mulk and George Thomas have reached the final of the 41st UAE Open India Club Badminton senior Over-50 event at the India Club. The pair are the defending champions and have dominated the Over-50 category.

Shafi, who is also the co-owner of the Kerala Kings team who won the inaugural T10 cricket league, is a passionate lover of sports and believes in the famous writer George Bernard Shaw’s quote: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

Shafi, who hails from the Royal family of Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh, has been playing badminton from the age of 13 and was the Andhra Pradesh state champion and represented the state in the national championship. He was in the Indian junior badminton camp in 1980 alongside legends like Prakash Padukone and Syed Modi and had featured in top sports magazines as a rising star. His focus on studies and his desire to become a doctor curtailed his rise as a player but he continues to enjoy badminton even into the fifties.

He may have become a successful entrepreneur, who went on to win the Forbes Middle East Indian entrepreneur award for three consecutive years, but he never gave up his love for sports and has sponsored the India Club badminton event for three years.

Speaking to Gulf News, Shafi, who encourages people of all ages to take part in sports and especially badminton, said: “The President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s decree to included expatriates into top sports administration is a remarkable step. Badminton is now underrepresented and lot needs to be done to revamp its old glory. This is a sport that should be introduced into schools, colleges and in companies. It is a sport that can lead the whole community into an active lifestyle and develop the spirit of competition, which in turn can lift the character and team building qualities in everyone.”

Calling out to people in all age groups, Shafi who played from 1978 to 1980 in the Indian national circuit, says that playing badminton and being closely involved in other sports has helped him accomplish many a milestone. “The philosophy of badminton is focus, technique, and control over one’s nerves during intense contests. These qualities help one in other walks of life when you need to beat the odds to emerge successful. This is why I never quit badminton, which I began playing from the age of 13.”

In the final, Shafi and George take on Mukesh Kumar and Harjit Singh.