Modi fulfilled their hopes and prayers during his short life. In 1976, aged only 14, Syed Modi became junior national Badminton champion. His mother could not stop weeping while hearing the radio. She made her three eldest sons promise there and then, on the oath of her tears, that they would always try their hardest to provide funds for Modi's training, as far as God gave them the ability. The same year, Modi started training under Mr. P.K. Bhandari (Pushp Kumar Bhandari – chief badminton coach, N.I.S, Patiala) which continued till 1982. Thereafter, he trained under Dipu Ghosh, National Coach of Indian team.