Badminton Canada mourns the passing of Pal Chawla

General

Badminton Canada mourns the passing of Pal Chawla

It is with sadness we announce the peaceful passing of Pal Chawla, while surrounded by his family, on May 27, 2021, at the age of 79 years.

Badminton Canada extends its sincere condelences to the Chawla family on the passing of Pal Chawla while under their loving care.

Pal was born in India where he had a prolific playing career and later moved to Manitoba, Canada in 1967, where he had a 44-year as a badminton coach. His approach and dedication to playing and coaching the game of badminton was unmatched. Pal's coaching style had always been about personal interaction. In fact, his job revolved around motivating individuals all the way from age 4 to 80+ and required a heavy number of evenings, weekend and out-of-town hours.

Although Pal came to Canada to coach, he still maintained a high level of badminton to the best of his abilities. As a local national player, Pal won a Silver Medal in Men’s Singles in 1971 at the Canada Winter Games for Team Saskatchewan, and the Bronze Medal in Men’s Doubles at the World Masters Games in the 45+ Age Category in Denmark in 1989. In addition, he played and won 100% of his Provincial Singles matches between 1967 and 1971 (before dropping singles all together), and also won approximately 80% of his doubles matches in the same 5-year span.

Many in the national badminton community have had the pleasure of working with Pal, seeing him play, or speaking with him at national tournaments. Those in the Manitoban badminton community understand the impact of his leadership to the development of our game. We will miss Pal deeply, but his contributions and legacy to badminton in Canada will always remain.

"Over many years, I was priviledged to see Pal perform his magic at the Winnipeg Winter Club with players of all ages and abilities - from beginners to Olympians" said Badminton Canada President, Anil Kaul. "The badminton community in Manitoba and Canada has lost an amazing player, coach, mentor and friend. He will be deeply missed and always remembered!"

Deservingly, Pal was inducted to the Badminton Canada Hall fo Fame in 2016 - to learn more about Pal, please visit: https://www.badminton.ca/page/28674/Hall-of-Fame

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