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21-year-old Srikanth Kidambi stunned two-time Olympic Champion Lin Dan of China in front of his home crowd in the final of the China Open Super Series event. It was a remarkable performance by the young Indian to beat the legendary player in straight sets.Making the day more special for Indian badminton was Saina Nehwal winning the women’s singles title by beating Akane Yamaguchi of Japan. Saina’s win was on expected lines as she saw off her lower-ranked opponent’s challenge in straight sets.We look at some breakthrough performances by Indian badminton players on world stage in the past which made the world take note.
#1 Prakash Padukone
The legendary player put the country on badminton’s world map as he was one of the leading players in the sport at the peak of his career. Padukone won the prestigious All England Championships in 1980 by beating Indonesian Liem Swie King 15-3, 15-10 in the final and became world number 1 in the men’s singles rankings.
Padukone’s major international wins include the Gold at the 1978 Commonwealth Games and title victories at Swedish Open and Danish Open in 1980 to add to the All England Championships win that year.
#2 Syed Modi
Syed Modi followed Prakash Padukone’s footsteps in winning the Commonwealth Games Gold in men’s singles as he beat Nick Yates of England 7-15, 15-5, 15-7 in the 1982 edition of the games.
A contemporary of Padukone, Modi was predicted by many to reach the same heights as his compatriot. But the talented player’s career and life was tragically cut short when he was murdered at the age of 26 years.
#3 Vimal Kumar
Currently a badminton coach, who has recently been training Saina Nehwal, Vimal Kumar won the French Open title (now one of the Super Series tournaments) in 1983 and defended the title the following year. He later added the Welsh Open in 1988 and 1991 and was once ranked in the top 20 in the world rankings. After retiring from the sport, he served as the national team coach for many years.
#4 Aparna Popat
Before Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu burst on the scene and took Indian women badminton to heights on the world stage, Aparna Popat was the country’s flag bearer.
9-time national women’s singles champion, Aparna won the prestigious French Open in 1998 when she beat German Katja Michalowsky 11-8, 11-4 in the final. She won the silver medal at the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games the same year.
#5 Pullela Gopichand
Gopichand became the second Indian after Prakash Padukone to win the All England Champioships as he won the men’s singles title at Birmingham in 2001. Gopichand defeated World number one Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark 17-14, 17-15 in a tough semifinal game and followed that up with a straight games (15-12, 15-6) win over Chinese Chen Hong in the final.
After retiring from the sport, Gopichand founded a badminton academy and currently coaches many top Indian players.
#6 Abhinn Shyam Gupta
While Gopichand’s victory at the All England in 2001 is well known to all, another Indian male shuttler came to prominence at the world stage that year. Abinn Shyam Gupta won the French Open days after Gopichand’s win.
Gupta, then ranked 97 in the world, surprised many by winning the prestigious tournament as he beat German Xie Yang 7-1, 7-3, 7-3 in the final. The win was the highlight of the player’s career along with some excellent performances for the country in the team events at Thomas Cup and Commonwealth Games.
#7 Saina Nehwal
The win at China Open adds to the list of Saina’s achievements in an already illustrious career. After winning the World Junior Badminton Championships in 2008 along with some promising performances in the senior stage, Saina followed up by becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series event as she won the 2009 Indonesian Open by beating Chinese Wang Lin 12–21, 21–18, 21–9 in the final. It confirmed that the young Indian had arrived on the world stage and would be a major force to reckon with.
Since then Saina has gone on to win many titles and was once ranked second in the world. However, the highlight of her career was the bronze she won at the 2012 London Olympics where she became the first Indian to win a medal in badminton in Olympics.
#8 Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa
The women’s doubles duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa has brought great laurels to the country on the world stage and the team has been consistently ranked among the top doubles teams in the world rankings.
Teaming up just before the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, the duo went on to win the Gold medal in the women’s doubles event, which was the first ever for the country in the format. They continued the good run in the World Badminton Championships in the following year where they won a first medal (bronze) by an Indian team with a very impressive run to the semifinals stage, which included wins over higher ranked opponents.
#9 P.V. Sindhu
After a breakthrough year in 2012 where she stunned Olympic Gold medallist Li Xuerui in the China Open, Sindhu won the bronze medal in the 2013 World Badminton Championships, becoming the first Indian female to win a singles medal. Enroute her impressive run to the semifinals, she beat defending champion and second-seed Wang Yihan of China 21-18, 23-21 in the pre-quarterfinals and seventh-seed Chinese Wang Shixian 21-18, 21-17 in the quarterfinals.
Sindhu went on to repeat her bronze medal exploits in the 2014 edition of the Championships, thus becoming the first Indian to win medals in consecutive editions of the tournament.
#10 Parupalli Kashyap
While Saina Nehwal won the bronze medal at London Olympics in women’s singles, Parupalli Kashyap also created history at the games as he reached the quarterfinals stage of the men’s singles event, becoming the first Indian to advance this far.
The highlight of the 28-year-old player’s career so far has been the Gold medal that he won at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, which was the first Gold for India in men’s singles in 32 years after Syed Modi’s win in 1982.
