Nandu M. Natekar

Nandu Natekar is a former Indian badminton national champion.
Natekar has won over 100 national and international titles for India in a career spanning 15 years. Natekar was the first Indian to win a title abroad, in 1956. Natekar is a director of Natekar Sports and Fitness (NSF).
He won the Men's Doubles National Championship a total of six times, Men's Singles National Championship a total of six times, and Mixed Doubles National Championship a total of five times.
He is an alumnus of Ramnarain Ruia College, Mumbai. His son, Gaurav Natekar, is a seven-time Indian National Champion in tennis.

Achievements

• Won National level Men's Singles and Doubles Championship, as well as Mixed Doubles, multiple times in India.
• He has reached the last 8 in the All England Championships.
• Included among 'the Greats' in a souvenir published by Malaysia during the Thomas Cup series in 1954-55.
• Men’s Singles Champion in the Selangor International Tournament in Kuala Lumpur in 1956. His victory was also the first international victory by an Indian badminton player.
• Recipient of the first Arjuna Award instituted in 1961.
• Voted the most popular sportsperson of India in 1961.
• Natekar and Meena Shaw won the Mixed Doubles title at Bangkok’s King’s Cup International Tournament in 1962. Won the Men’s Singles title at the same event in 1963.
• Represented India at the Commonwealth Games in Jamaica in 1965.
• Awarded Meritorious Service Award by the IBF in 1989.
• Honoured at the Jagatik Marathi Parishad in Mauritius in 1991.
• Awarded Life-time Achievement Award by the Petroleum Sports Control Board of India in January, 2001.
• Awarded Sahyadri Navratna Puraskar in 2002, titled Ratna Saurabh.

• ^
• Badminton India Archives - Individual Championships
• ^ Indiantelevision.com
• ^
• Badminton India Archives - Awards
• The Hindu (newspaper)