A tribute to Paddy Upton - the South African who brought his Midas touch to Indian sport

Gukesh’s mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton has been associated with some of India’s biggest sporting moments.

Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh created history, becoming the youngest-ever Chess World Champion. Just 18, the lad from Chennai defeated China’s Ling Diren to clinch the FIDE World Chess Championship 2024 in Singapore.

At such a young age, keeping one’s composure at the biggest stage of all is not a mean task. Having started his career’s biggest match with a loss, Gukesh made a comeback in the third game. He then took a lead in the eleventh round, only for Ding to claw back in the twelfth one, before a blunder by the reigning champion helped Gukesh clinch a decisive victory.

Aboard a roller-coaster ride, having an expert who ensures a calm head is invaluable. That is the role which Gukesh’s mental conditioning coach, Paddy Upton, who is no stranger to the Indian sporting circles, played in the youngster’s unforgettable campaign.

South African Paddy Upton already had a CV worth boasting about, before Gukesh added another golden line to that. He has in fact, been part of some of India’s most memorable outings at the global stage, in different sports.

It is often said in top level sport that the skillsets of most competitors are the same. What separates good players from champions, is the mental strength and ability to hold one’s nerves in unfavourable situations. In centuries of competitive sport across the world, we have seen some mentality monsters dominating for decades and some exceptional talents fizzling out when the big moment arrives.

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Clearly, having someone in your ranks to handle the mental aspect shouldn’t be a luxury but a necessity. In the last one and a half decades, Paddy has worked with a number of Indian sportsmen and teams in ensuring that they stand tall, when the eyes of the world are peeled on them.

In 2008, he joined hands with a certain Gary Kirsten, taking on the dual role of mental conditioning coach and strategic leadership coach of the Indian men’s cricket team. What followed was one of the most glorious phases for the team. In the very next year, the team managed to climb to the top of the test rankings for the first time ever.

In 2011, a 28-year long wait ended as India lifted the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup for the second time. The work put in was clearly visible, as the side managed to make a comeback despite being on the backfoot in crucial matches.

A number of moments would appear as a flashback: the historic tie against England when the team were staring down the barrel; a steep run-chase against the near-invincible Australians in the quarter-final; the fightback against Pakistan while defending a below-par target in the semi-final and the unforgettable run-chase against Sri Lanka after losing Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar early.

Whenever the team had their back against the wall, they managed to find a way back. Unfortunately for India (but fortunately for South Africa), Paddy decided to return soon after the World Cup, and take up a new challenge, this time with his home team.

The mental health expert, who was born in Johannesburg and has degrees from four different universities including a master’s degree in sports science at university of Cape Town, enjoyed his second big moment with an Indian national team, this time in the sport of field hockey. He was the mental conditioning coach of the side which clinched the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics 2024.

The team overcame a slow start to put on a masterclass against top teams. Having lost their best penalty corner rusher Amit Rohidas to a controversial red card early in the quarter-final against Great Britain, India managed to retain their belief and eke out a draw before emerging victorious in the penalty shootout.

They also fought tooth and nail against World Champions Germany in the semi-final despite Rohidas’ absence, endured a loss and then overcame the disappointment, to emerge triumphant against Spain in the bronze medal match.

It would be unfair to many previous Indian greats, if you would term the words ‘fightback’ and ‘mental resilience’ as new features to the Indian sporting dictionary. There have been stalwarts who have combatted great adversity to eventually etch their name in history. However, here was a man who was teaching everyone the importance of sport science. The man who taught everyone that battles are not only fought on the field, but also in the mind.

Also Read: Top six youngest winners in FIDE World Chess Championship history

Paddy’s greatness is not limited to India. He has been a personal mental coach to over a hundred professional athletes from five different continents, in sports like cricket, rugby, soccer, golf, tennis, swimming and surfing.

During his three-year stint as the Performance Director of the South African cricket team, they became the first team to achieve the number one ranking in all three formats.

He has also found success as a head coach in leagues such as the Indian Premier League, the Big Bash League and the Pakistan Super League, managing to earn love and respect from pundits and fans by picking up teams from the doldrums and changing their fortunes completely, more than once.

The 56-year-old, who has seen it all, has now helped a youngster, less than one-third of his age, to touch unimaginable heights, scaled by none of his age previously. We are all grateful to the man, who has yet again given a billion people a reason to smile!

Unfortunately, be it any field, rarely are the people present on the backstage given the same credit as those on the front. When you finally reach the background staff, the first set of people in the limelight are the coach and the immediate family. Certain individuals somehow never get the credit they deserve.

It is, therefore, heartening to see that Paddy Upton’s name has been struck off from that list. India finally celebrates the legacy of Paddy Upton—an unsung hero, in who’s absence we might not have scaled some summits, the magnitude of those which we are going to enjoy for ages to come!

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