His most notable achievement at the international badminton circuit came in the form of men's singles title at the 1982 Commonwealth Games.

Modi's career was cut short in his prime when he was shot dead on 28 July 1988 in Lucknow as he came out of the K. D. Singh Babu Stadium after a practice session.

Syed Mahdi Hassan Zaidi was born in the town of Sardarnagar, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Chauri Chaura in Uttar Pradesh.

He grew up there, but his family hailed from Zaidi Sadat Kandipur (or Kadipur) near Jalalpur town in Ambedkar Nagar District, Uttar Pradesh.

His father, Syed Meer Hassan Zaidi, worked in Sardarnagar sugar mill and his mother was a housewife.

Far from considering him a burden, they pinned their hopes on him earning a good name and bringing honour, pride and happiness to his parents in their old age, after a lifetime of poverty and struggle.

In the same year, the department of sports (Government of India) recommended his name, and Modi was given a paying job as a Welfare Officer in the Indian Railways (NE).

His game started going downhill only in 1987–88 when his marriage came under strain (his wife was having an affair) and Modi lost the national badminton championship for the first time ever in 1988.

A girl badminton player of his own age named Ameeta Kulkarni was in the women's team, and, as the Supreme Court would later record, "there arose intimacy between the two.

Behavioural expectations and professional jealousies have been identified conclusively, but religious issues have also been hinted at in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report.

This was Sanjay Sinh, an immensely rich man, a classmate and friend of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and a prominent politician belonging to the ruling Congress party.

Modi began to suspect that his wife was having an affair with Singh, and for reasons that are unclear, Ameeta seems to have chosen to feed his fears rather than allay them.

[8] She then left the infant with her parents in Mumbai and returned to Lucknow, supposedly in order to continue with her badminton practice and get back into form as soon as possible.

On the evening of 28 July 1988, at the age of 25, Modi was shot dead as he was coming out of KD Singh Babu stadium, Lucknow after a routine practice.

A brilliant career was cut short and a severe blow was dealt to badminton in India as Modi was touted to be a superstar like Prakash Padukone.

Bhagwati Singh was found guilty of murder and possessing illegal arms, fined and sentenced to life imprisonment.

[18] Shortly after being released for lack of evidence, Modi's widow, Ameeta, married her long-time lover, Sanjay Singh.

Investigation revealed that Sanjay Singh had obtained a decree of divorce by stating a wrong address as his wife's residence.

Due to the sensational revelations and public and legal shenanigans, Sanjay Singh had to take a prolonged sabbatical from his political career.