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In a time when Indian men's singles had nearly no representation on the international stage, Parupalli Kashyap was one of the only names badminton enthusiasts from the country could spot in the draw and on television.
Now, after more than a decade of playing the game at its highest levels, the 37-year-old has decided to call time on his playing career.
In his early career, Kashyap was a promising hope for India, but something never quite materialized. Playing in the era of the greats Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan, titles were few and far between for the Indian shuttler, despite him having reached a world ranking of six at one point in his career.
Now, after years plagued by injuries, Parupalli Kashyap has decided to hang up his racket. The former Olympian had decided to focus his energies on becoming a coach full-time and intends to work primarily with former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth.
“The injuries are forcing me to quit though I haven’t officially announced retirement. Meantime I wanted to start working with Gopi sir because it would be foolish not to learn from his experience,” he told Indian Express.
“I started with a batch of U-17 and U-19s for a month, and he gave me freedom to coach whoever I wanted to. Then Srikanth approached me to help him, and I’m thankful to Gopi Sir for giving me the opportunity to work with Srikanth,” Kashyap added.
Parupalli Kashyap’s career highlights
Parupalli Kashyap first made noise on the international stage in 2010 when he beat compatriot Chetan Anand to win bronze at the Commonwealth Games. Later in the same event, he played a crucial role in guiding India to a silver in the team event.
2012 was a year worth remembering for Kashyap. The Indian shuttler got things going by beating the then-World No. 3 Chen Long en route to the semifinals of the Indonesia Open. He also reached the quarterfinals of the London Olympics, becoming the first Indian man to do so.
2014 saw Parupalli Kashyap claim a Commonwealth Games gold medal and a year later, he was crowned champion at the India Open Grand Prix Gold 2015.
The Hyderabadi has been awarded the Arjuna Award by the Government of India for his contributions to badminton.
