From Prakash Padukone to Lakshya Sen, let’s have a look at the glorious events and journey of Indian shuttlers over the years.
The decade gone by has brought about a revolution in Indian badminton, which has carried the sport to unprecedented heights.
Three Olympic medals, two players formerly ranked world №1, and a historic first world championship crown has firmly established India as one of the top badminton countries in the world.
The journey of the previous decade has made players like Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu household names in the country while Parupalli Kashyap, Kidambi Srikanth, B Sai Praneeth, Jwala Gutta, and Ashwini Ponappa have all made important contributions along the way.
Prakash Padukone
The first superstar of Indian badminton, Prakash Padukone was a pioneer in more ways than one.
After creating waves in domestic Indian badminton circles — winning junior and senior national titles in the same year — Prakash Padukone laid down the marker internationally by winning the men’s singles gold at the 1978 Commonwealth Games.
Padukone topped that achievement just two years later when he took home the All England Open crown, considered one of the most prestigious tournaments in badminton, in 1980 beating Indonesian legend Liem Swie King in the final.
Pullela Gopichand
Gopichand won his first national title in 1996, before going on to win the next four in a row.
He was a steady performer in international competition, winning silver with the men’s team at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and bronze in the singles, before another bronze at the 2000 Asian championships.
The crowning glory of Pullela Gopichand’s career came in 2001 as he became only the second Indian badminton player to win the All England crown, which included a win over then world №1 Peter Gade in the semis.
Multiple injuries and surgeries to his knee brought a relatively early end to Gopichand’s playing career but it led to the first steps of what is now widely credited with revolutionising Indian badminton.
Saina Nehwal
The exploits of Prakash Padukone in the eighties and the success of Pullela Gopichand at All England in 2001 were the two big milestones before Saina Nehwal arrived on the scene with a bang in 2006.
Saina went on to win more than 20 big international titles, became the toast of the nation by winning the gold at 2010 Commonwealth Games and entered the history books when she became the first Indian shuttler to win a medal at the Olympics in 2012.
Saina Nehwal added another cap to her feather, becoming the top-ranked women’s singles player in the world in 2015, making her the first Indian to achieve it.
PV Sindhu
If Saina Nehwal dared Indian badminton to dream, PV Sindhu made that dream a reality.
17-year-old PV Sindhu caught the imagination with a bronze at the Worlds. That was a first by an Indian woman and also the second after a gap of 30 years for India.
She soon surpassed Saina and became the new superstar and flag bearer of Indian badminton.
She is the first and only Indian to become the Badminton World Champion and only the second individual athlete from India to win two consecutive medals at the Olympic Games.
Parupalli Kashyap
Parupalli Kashyap triumphed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
He also created history by reaching the quarter-finals of men’s singles at 2012 London Olympics, being the first male player from India to do so.
Kidambi Srikanth
Srikanth won his first national title in 2013, beating senior pro Parupalli Kashyap in the final and went on to become the first male Indian badminton player to win a BWF Super Series title with the 2014 China Open crown, where he upset Olympic champion Lin Dan in the final.
He lost out to Lin Dan in the quarter-finals of Rio 2016 but used that as a springboard for success, winning a record four Super Series title in 2017 and rose to become world №1 in 2018, becoming only the second Indian to do so after Saina Nehwal.
He recently became the first ever Indian to reach the World Championships final in the men’s singles and win a silver medal.
Sai Praneeth
Sai Praneeth won the World bronze in 2019. He ended India’s 36-year medal drought at the tournament.
He also became only the second Indian in men’s singles to clinch a medal at the mega event since Prakash Padukone.
There is no dearth of potential and the fact that Srikanth, Prannoy and Lakshya reached the quarterfinals at the recently concluded Worlds and two of them finished on the podium, indicates the rise in the performance of Indian Badminton.
HS Prannoy, Srikanth and Sai could be around at the 2024 Olympics, while the younger crop of Lakshya Sen, Priyanshu Rajawat, Pranav Rao Gandam, Maisnam Meiraba are showing a lot of promise.
Deemed as one of India’s brightest talents in the badminton circuit, Lakshya Sen stood above expectations when he returned to the country with a bronze medal at the BWF World Championships in Huelva, Spain.
Almost all these players are from the Gopichand academy. However, in a significant development, a big player has emerged from another badminton academy after several years — Lakshya Sen. The competition between Gopichand and Prakash Padukone academy augurs well for Indian badminton.
India’s present and future looks bright with superstars like PV Sindhu, Saina, Srikanth and many more constantly delivering on big stages and youngsters showing promising performances and results wherever they play.
