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The year 2019 cannot be classified as a successful or unsuccessful for the Indian badminton players. While on one hand we saw some young players emerging, the star players did not make a mark in this 2019 BWF Season.
It has been said that the new rule of Badminton World Federation implemented in 2018 is the reason for the drop in form for the Indian shuttlers. According to the new rule, it is mandatory for Top Committed Players to play in all the three Super 1000, all five Super 750, and aleast four out of 7 Super 500 tournaments. The top fifteen singles players and top ten doubles pairs in the World Ranking come under this category. Upon breaking this rule, the players could be fined upto $5,000. Injured players who submit the relevant medical certificates given relief from this rule.
This year saw Saina Nehwal and Srikanth Kidambi battle injuries, making it a lot difficult for them to participate regularly in the tournaments. With the Tokyo Olympics all set to take place next year, many players also made themselves unavailable to play in order to prepare for the quadrennial event.
However, many Indian players brought laurels to the country this year. We are putting down a list of top five Indian badminton players who shined in the year and won the hearts of the Indian badminton fans.
#5 Saina Nehwal
The former World No. 1 female badminton player struggled with injuries in 2019. After an amazing 2018 year, when the Hyderabad based player won a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games and a bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games, Saina Nehwal started 2019 with a semifinal exit from Malaysia Masters.
Within two weeks, Saina won the Indonesia Masters, her first Super 500 title. She won the finals after Spain's Carolina Marin retired from the match in the first set itself.
Since then, Saina failed to reach the finals in the BWF World Tour and finished the year with just one title. She also announced her withdrawal from the upcoming Premier Badminton League 2020 citing injury reasons.
#4 B Sai Praneeth
Bhamidipati Sai Praneeth was one of the most in-form men's singles players for India in 2019. At the 2019 Swiss Open, the 27-year old finished as the runner-up after a tough fight against the world number one Shi Yuqi. But it was his journey to the finals that made him super confident in his coming tournaments.
Praneeth defeated Sameer Verma 21-14, 22-20 in the second round of the tournament, followed by an easy 21-13, 21-11 win over Lucas Corvée in the quarter-finals. In the semis, Praneeth was up against the reigning Olympic champion Chen Long. However, the Indian went past the Chinese in straight sets to win the match 21-18, 21-13.
His amazing form continued at the 2019 BWF World Championships, where he became the first Indian men's singles badminton player in 36 years to win a medal for the country. Starting as the 16th seed, Praneeth defeated Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 21-19, 21-13 in the third round.
After a win over the sixth seed, Praneeth went on to defeat the fourth seed Indonesian Jonatan Christie 24-22, 21-14. Having reached the semi-finals, a medal for the Indian was confirmed. Disappointingly, the color did not saw an upgrade as he went down to the eventual champion Kento Momota in straight sets to end his fairytale at the World Championships.
#3 Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy
The men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty became a talking point in the country after their silver medal winning run at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia. They were also the part of the mixed team which went on to win the gold medal in the same tournament.
They started they year with a win at the Brazil International in April. The turning point came when they made history at the Thailand Open in July when they became the first Indian men's doubles pair to win a title in the Super 500 tournament.
They also defeated all the top 10 men's doubles pair atleast once except the Indonesian pair of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo. Gideon and Sakamuljo defeated the Indians in the finals of the French Open, which is a Super 750 tournament.
The Indian pair broke into the top 10 rankings for the first time in their career. For their record breaking run in 2019, they have been nominated for the "Most Improved Player of the Year" award by the BWF.
#2 Lakshya Sen
The 18-year old Lakshya Sen has come up as one the most promising talents of 2019. The 2018 Youth Olympic Games gold medal winner reached a total of six finals in this year and have won five of them. Sen won two Super 100 tournaments and three international titles in the year 2019.
He clinched his maiden BWF World Tour title when he won the Dutch Open in October. His second Super 100 title came in the same month when the youngster defeated China's Weng Hongyang 17–21, 21–18, 21–16 at the SaarLorLux Open in Germany.
Sen also reached his career best ranking of 32 after winning the Bangladesh International earlier in December. With five titles, Sen has proved himself to be one of the young stars of India and could very well be seen making some upsets in the next BWF World Tour in 2020.
#1 PV Sindhu
The 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist created history after she won the women's singles title at the 2019 BWF World Championships. She defeated Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in a one sided final to become the first Indian to clinch a world title in badminton.
With the gold, PV Sindhu also became one of the most successful players in the history of the tournament. Apart from the gold medal this year, Sindhu has won two bronze medals (2013, 2014) and two silver medals (2017, 2018). She shares the record of winning five medals at the world championships with the legendary Chinese player Zhang Ning.
Apart from the World Championship win, Sindhu could not manage to win any other title, with her best result coming at the Indonesia Open in July. She lost the finals to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi.
At the year end BWF World Tour Finals 2019, Sindhu lost two of her three group matches, failing to reach the semis. Her only consolation came against China's He Bingjiao.
