Wing Commander Satish Bhatia (retd) handed away on Wednesday after a protracted sickness. He was 81.
Commissioned in IAF in December 1964, Wing Commander Bhatia was an AN-12 transport pilot and had flown the final sortie of the plane on June 30, 1993 when it was phased out from service.
Throughout the course of his profession he served in HQs Coaching Command Communications Flight, in 11 Squadron in Lucknow and 25 Squadron in Chandigarh amongst many assorted appointments in his greater than 30 12 months lengthy profession.
Wing Commander Bhatia took lively half within the 1965 and 1971 wars flying operational sorties and was additionally a part of the air effort in Sri Lanka with Indian Peace Retaining Drive (IPKF).
satish Bhatia assembly the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. (Particular association)
After his retirement from the Indian Air Drive, Wing Commander Bhatia had been related to the UT Sports activities Division.
Dinesh Khanna, 1966 Commonwealth Video games bronze medallist and the one Indian males’s badminton participant to win an Asian Championship title, remembered his first assembly with Wing Commander (retd) and former nationwide champion Satish Bhatia. It was in 1958 in the course of the junior nationals that Khanna and Bhatia confronted one another and since then it had been a protracted affiliation between the 2. On Wednesday, as Khanna heard the information of the demise of Bhatia in Chandigarh, the previous nationwide champion remembered his pal fondly.
“It was in the course of the Guwahati Nationals in 1958 that we confronted one another within the semi-finals. It was his first junior nationals and I used to be enjoying in my third junior nationals. Whereas I gained the semi-finals, we solid a life-long friendship. He was a really jovial individual and all the time revered his opponents,” mentioned Khanna whereas talking with The Indian Categorical from Delhi.
Born in Quetta in pre-Independence India, Bhatia alongside along with his household had relocated to Dehradun. Counted amongst India’s top-ranked junior shuttlers, Bhatia performed on the nationwide circuit within the Nineteen Sixties and was a member of the Indian U-20 workforce which gained the Worldwide Problem in Malaysia in 1962. After his becoming a member of within the Indian Air Drive in 1964, Bhatia grew to become the nationwide champion with a win over Khanna within the nationals in 1968 and was additionally a part of the Indian groups in Thomas Cup in 1966 and 1969 aside from that includes in Indian groups for Asian Video games, Commonwealth Video games and Asian Championships.
Satish Bhatia after turning into the nationwide champion in 1968. (Particular association)
“He had a well-known model of serve which was known as spinning serve. A whole lot of Worldwide gamers together with Thai gamers have been deceived by this sort of serve and he all the time performed attacking badminton,” mentioned Khanna.
Throughout his profession, Bhatia had given stiff competitors to eight-time All England champion and world champion Rudy Hartano twice. He took Hartano to a few video games twice in his profession. “He balanced his Indian Air Drive profession alongside along with his enjoying profession with ease. Rudy Hartano was world’s prime participant at the moment and Satish Bhatia matched him for 3 video games earlier than struggling slender loss twice,” mentioned former Indian chief coach Sanjiv Sachdeva.
After his enjoying profession, he remained within the sport teaching kids and joined the UT sports activities division as a coach after his retirement from the Indian Air Drive. “He was wanting to groom younger expertise within the metropolis and keep the monitor of their careers. It’s an enormous loss for Chandigarh badminton,” mentioned Indian coach Surinder Mahajan. Bhatia is survived by his spouse Madhu Bhatia , a son, a daughter and his grandchildren. His cremation will likely be held at Sector 25 Electrical Crematorium at 11am on March 14. Bhatia’s son Group Captain Navin Bhatia whereas talking with The Indian Categorical, remembered his father as a devoted Indian Air Drive officer and a guiding pressure. “My father beloved Indian Air Drive and badminton. He had the fervour for each proper from his youthful days. He had greater than 6,000 hours of flying expertise and would share his tales with us. He additionally cherished his nationwide championship trophy with fondness and at any time when a teen would go to us, he confirmed him that aside from his Indian Air Drive awards,” mentioned Group Captain Navin Bhatia.