Top Ten national players of badminton
Badminton is a popular sport, the second most played sport in India after cricket. It has a huge fan following in India. Badminton was developed during British India from the older games of shuttlecock and battledore. It is a European sport that was previously dominated by Denmark, but gradually it became more popular in Asia and only recently China began to dominate the sport. Here this list of top 10 famous badminton players of India, and will throw light on Indian badminton players.
India has always produced excellent badminton players with exceptional skills. These badminton players have made the country proud at almost every stage, be it the Commonwealth Games or the prestigious Olympics.Top 10 famous badminton players of India.
1. Nandu Natekar
Nandu Natekar was one of the most prominent players in the history of badminton. His career in badminton lasted for almost 15 years, in which he was successful in winning more than 100 national and international titles. His control and regulation of the badminton game made him the first Indian to win the title abroad in 1956. In 1961, proved to be the highlight year for Nandu Natekar as a badminton player, he received his first Arjuna Award. In the same year, he had a definite clout in the game of badminton as India's most popular player which is only more evident from the many awards he has won and the respect he has received from the people of the country.
Natekar also established an academy "NSF - Natekar Sports & Fitness" to groom aspiring and upcoming badminton talents.
Awards & Achievements
Achievement | Year |
---|---|
Arjuna Award. | 1961 |
Most popular Indian Sportsperson. | 1961 |
IBF Meritorious Service Award. | 1989 |
Lifetime Achievement Award. | 2001 |
Sahyadri Navratna Puraskar. | 2002 |
2. Pullela Gopichand
Pullela Gopichand is not only one of the best Indian badminton players but also the coach of top Indian badminton players. He has single-handedly produced world class athletes including PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal. He retired shortly before his badminton career due to several injuries.
He still manages to contribute to the game through coaching the top and best badminton players.
Pullela Gopichand has won Arjuna Award, Padma Shri and Dronacharya Award for his outstanding performance and talent in performance and his contribution as a coach in badminton.
Major Awards & Achievements
Achievement | Year |
---|---|
Commonwealth Games Silver (team). | 1998 |
Commonwealth Games Bronze (Singles). | 1998 |
Arjuna Award | 1999 |
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. | 2001 |
All England Open (Singles). | 2001 |
Padma Shri Award | 2005 |
Dronacharya Award. | 2009 |
Padma Bhushan Award | 2014 |
3. Prakash Padukone
Prakash Padukone achieved the status of the world's No. 1 badminton player in 1980. His quickness and immense passion for the game led him to win the All England Open Badminton Championship in the same year. In 1972 he was awarded the Arjuna Award and ten years later in 1982 he was awarded the Padma Shri.
Even after his retirement from the game, he continued to devote himself to the game, mentoring budding Indian badminton players through his academy. He is also the co-founder of Olympic Gold Quest, an organization created to promote the Olympic Games.
Major Awards & Achievements
Achievement | Year |
---|---|
Arjuna Award. | 1972 |
Asian Games Bronze. (Team) | 1974 |
Commonwealth Games Gold. (Singles) | 1978 |
World Grand Prix Gold. (Singles) | 1979 |
All England Open. (Singles). | 1980 |
World Cup Gold.(Singles) | 1981 |
Padma Shri Award. | 1982 |
World Championships Bronze (Singles). | 1983 |
Asian Games Bronze. (Team) | 1986 |
4. Aparna Popat
Aparna Popat is one of the list of great players of badminton game of India. For the most number of times in a row, she holds the record for the most number of consecutive national senior level women's badminton titles. Which is a total of 9 times between 1997 and 2006. In 1998, she became the first Indian player to win the French Open title. In the same year, she went on to win a silver medal at the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games. She won her first national title in 1997 in Hyderabad, from there she continued till 2006, thus equaling Prakash Padukone's record of 9 national singles titles. He has also been awarded the Arjuna Award for excellence in sports.
Awards & Achievements
Achievement | Year |
---|---|
World Junior Championship (Runner-up). | 1996 |
National Women's title from | 1996 to 2003 |
Commonwealth Games Silver | 1998 |
French Open (Singles). | 1998 |
Arjuna Award. | 2005 |
5. Jwala Gutta
Jwala Gutta is the first Indian badminton player to qualify for two events at the Olympics, Jwala Gutta becoming one of the best Indian badminton players in the doubles category with her never-give-up attitude and her aggressive style of play. His affinity with the frontcourt and skillful net play with accurate estimation makes him one of the deadliest players in badminton doubles.
She excelled at delivering deceptive strokes over the net and her skillful netplay and unique style of serve as she is the only top doubles player to use a forehand serve.
Awards & Achievements
Achievement | Year |
---|---|
14 Gold Medals for Women's Doubles Championship | 2004 to 2008 |
5 Gold Medals for Mixed Doubles Championship | 2006 to 2008 |
Arjuna Award. | 2011 |
6. Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal is one of the most famous badminton players of India. She has been a successful badminton player in the world with 23 titles to her name. Saina Nehwal has contributed a lot to the game to make the badminton game more popular among the younger generation. Saina became the first Indian shuttler to win a medal at the Olympics and the only Indian to win the BWF World Junior Championships. She became the first Indian and the youngest Asian to win a 4-star tournament.
He has also been honored with Arjuna Award, Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
Major Awards & Achievements
Achievement | Year |
---|---|
BWF Most Promising Player of the Year. | 2008 |
Arjuna Award. | 2009 |
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. | 2009 |
Commonwealth Games Gold (Singles). | 2010 |
Padma Shri Award | 2010 |
Olympic Bronze (singles). | 2012 |
BWF World Championships Silver | 2015 |
Padma Bhushan Award | 2016 |
BWF World Championships Bronze | 2017 |
Commonwealth Games Gold (Singles). | 2018 |
Commonwealth Games Gold (Mixed Team). | 2018 |
7. PV Sindhu
PV Sindhu At the international level, she managed to break into the BWF top 20 rankings at the age of 17. In the year 2013, she became the first Indian singles player to win a medal at the Badminton World Championships. In 2015, she was awarded the Padma Shri, and in 2016 she became the first Indian shuttler to reach the final of an Olympic badminton event. In 2017, she became the first Indian to win the Korea Open. Along with Padma Shri, he has also been awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and the Arjuna Award. She won a gold medal in the mixed team event and a silver medal in the women's singles event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He won the second silver medal at the 2018 World Championships. In the 2019 World Championships, Sindhu became the first Indian to win gold.
Major Awards & Achievements
Achievement | Year |
---|---|
Arjuna Award. | 2013 |
FICCI Breakthrough Sportsperson. | 2014 |
Indian of the Year. | 2014 |
Padma Shri Award | 2015 |
Olympic Silver medal – Rio Olympics. | 2016 |
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. | 2016 |
Bronze medal – Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. | 2021 |
8. Parupalli Kashyap
Parupalli Kashyap, husband of badminton star Saina Nehwal, is a badminton pro for India and plays for Banga Beats in the Indian Badminton League. He made a name for himself in the men's singles at the 2012 London Olympics, where he became the only Indian male player to reach the quarter-finals. He is a reputed player for the Indian Badminton League.
He also won the men's singles gold medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014. In 2018 he won the Austrian Open.
His resilience and strong will and determination enabled him to fight his asthma, and become one of India's top athletes. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2012 for his remarkable contribution towards sports.
Major Awards & Achievements
Achievement. | Year |
---|---|
Commonwealth Games Bronze (singles). | 2010 |
Arjuna Award. | 2012 |
Commonwealth Games Gold (singles). | 2014 |
9. Shrikant Kidambik
Srikant Kidambi became the world's No. 1 Badminton player in 2018 with his outstanding achievements and success in a very short span of time. He was also awarded the Padma Shri in the same year. In 2015, Srikanth became the first Indian man to win Swiss Open Grand Prix gold. In 2015 the year also won the Indian Open. In 2016, he was ranked number 11, from where he made his way to world number 1 in just two years. Srikanth holds the record for entering three consecutive Super Series finals.
Major Awards & Achievements
Achievement. | Year |
---|---|
Arjuna Award. | 2015 |
South Asian Games Gold (Singles) | 2016 |
CNN-IBN Indian of the year in sports. | 2017 |
Padma Shri. | 2018 |
Commonwealth Games Gold. (Mixed team) | 2018 |
Commonwealth Games Silver (Singles) | 2018 |
10. Ashwini Ponnappa
Ashwini Ponnappa shared a coveted partnership with Jwala Gutta, which made her the top badminton player in the doubles category. Ponnappa is part of the first Indian pair to win multiple international titles including gold at the Commonwealth Games and the Uber Cup and bronze at the Asian Badminton Championships. In 2011, the pair became the first Indian pair and women to win a medal at the BWF World Championships, marking one of their finest performances in the history of badminton. Ashwini Ponnappa didn't get more appreciation than Jwala Gutta, but she is one of the finest badminton players India has produced.
Major Awards & Achievements
Achievement. | Year |
---|---|
Arjuna Award. | 2012 |
Commonwealth Games Silver (Doubles) | 2010 |
BWF World Championship Bronze (Doubles) | 2011 |
Commonwealth Games Silver (Mixed team) | 2014 |
Commonwealth Games Gold (Doubles) | 2014 |
Commonwealth Games Gold (Mixed team) | 2018 |
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