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Badminton has strong roots in the Indian culture. Over the years, India has produced some of the best badminton players the world has seen, who have brought a lot of joy to the fans. Here are the 10 best Indian players of all time (including both current and past).
#10 Prakash Nath
Prakash Nath was best-known for reaching the All England final in 1947 – the first Indian in the final of that great tournament. Read the full story on searching for Prakash Nath here.
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#9 Srikanth Kidambi
K. Srikanth, currently training at Gopichand Badminton Academy, is India’s highest ranking men’s player in the badminton circuit. He is the current World No. 11.
He has come into the limelight in a big way after the 2016 Rio Olympics. He lost 2-1 to the Super Dan in the quarterfinals, narrowly losing the third set by three points.
At the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games, he won the silver in mixed doubles and bronze in doubles.
He finished runner up at the 2014 India Open Grand Prix Gold event in Lucknow. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Kidambi played a significant role in taking the Indian team to the semi-final of the mixed-team event. He reached the last eight of the singles draw.
Srikanth carried India's hopes at the 2016 Rio Olympics and put in a commendable performance at his maiden Games with a quarterfinal finish.
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#8 Parupalli Kashyap
Although injured at present, Parupalli Kashyap has done a lot for Indian badminton ever since making his debut in 2006. The 29-year-old became the first Indian Men’s Singles shuttler to enter the quarterfinals at an Olympics, back in 2012, where he lost to Lee Chong Wei.
Two years later, Kashyap changed the colour of his medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, winning the gold after having won the bronze at the 2010 edition at home.
Much was expected from him at the Rio Olympics, but the shuttler, unfortunately, got injured just ahead of the Games and is now looking to make a comeback into the sport in September.
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#7 Aparna Popat
Former badminton superstar Aparna Popat was India's national champion for a record-equalling nine times, as she won all the senior national championships between 1997 and 2006. She won a silver medal, a bronze and another bronze medal at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games respectively.
Popat reached a career high ranking of 16th in the world. She remains the only badminton player to have won 16 national singles titles.
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#6 Jwala Gutta
Jwala Gutta is one of India’s most successful badminton doubles players. She won her first Commonwealth medal in 2006, winning bronze in the mixed team category. She won the gold medal with Ashwini Ponnappa at the 2010 Games along with a silver in the mixed team category.
At the 2014 Games in Glasgow, Gutta won the silver medal. At the 2011 Badminton World Championships, Gutta won the bronze medal in doubles. She was awarded the Arjuna award by the Indian Government in 2011.
However, the past 12-15 months have been littered with poor form from the shuttler and that was reflected at the 2016 Rio Olympics, when she, along ith her partner Ashwini Ponnappa, crashed out in the Group stage.
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#5 Ashwini Ponnappa
Ashwini Ponnappa is one of India’s leading doubles players. She has partnered with Jwala Gutta and won several accolades for herself and her country.
Her medals include a bronze at the World Championships in London in 2011, a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, two silvers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in doubles and mixed team and silver at the 2014 Uber Cup in Delhi.
She was also part of the squad that won a second consecutive bronze at the 2016 Uber Cup. However, she had a disappointing outing at the Games, getting eliminated in the Group stage itself, and will now look to make a comeback next month.
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#4 P.V. Sindhu
In 2013 Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Badminton World Championships. She repeated the feat in 2014 by winning another bronze medal at the same championships. Her bronze medal in 2013 was India’s first medal for 30 years since Prakash Padukone won bronze in 1983.
The 19-year-old badminton player has greatness written in her destiny. She won the gold medal at the Malaysian Open Grand Prix in 2013 and a gold medal at the 2013 Macau Open badminton championships.
Sindhu won the bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and was recognized as the NDTV Indian of the Year 2014 for her efforts. However, her crowning glory came at the 2016 Rio Olympics when she defeated three top 10 ranked players before losing to Carolina Marin in the final to win the silver medal.
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#3 Pullela Gopichand
Pullela Gopichand won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001. He was only the second Indian to do so after Prakash Padukone.
Gopichand won the bronze medal in the men’s singles event at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. He also bagged the silver in the men’s team event at the same Games. He reached a career high ranking of World No. 5 in 2001.
He has been the recipient of several awards such as Arjuna award in 1999, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2001, Padma Shri in 2005, Dronacharya Award in 2009 and Padma Bhushan in 2014.
Now a coach, Gopichand runs a successful academy in Hyderabad. The facility trains several Indian badminton players including top Indian players Parupalli Kashyap and P. V. Sindhu.
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#2 Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal is currently ranked 5th in the world. Last year, she ascended to the World No. 1 position and was the runner-up at the All-England Championships and the Badminton World Championships. Nehwal won the bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in women’s singles and the gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth games in women’s singles.
Along with winning the gold at the 2008 world junior championships, Nehwal also collected bronze at the 2014 Uber Cup. Saina Nehwal also won the India Open Grand Prix gold twice in 2010 and 2014 and the Australian Super Series gold in 2014.
Injuries have plagued her career in recent times and she has seen a dip in her rankings. But she bounced back in June 2016, by winning a second Australian Open title in three years. Her Rio Olympics campaign ended on a sorry note as she was knocked out in the Group stage of the competition.
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#1 Prakash Padukone
Prakash Padukone is arguably India’s finest badminton player ever. His first major victory was winning the gold medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. Two years later, he became the first Indian to win the All England Championships by winning the title in 1980.
Padukone also won the gold medal at the 1981 World Cup in Kaula Lampur and the bronze medal at the 1983 World Championships. He was the world’s number one player in 1980.
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