U. Vimal Kumar (born 19 November 1962) is an Indian former badminton player. He won the Indian National title consecutively for two years, 1988 and 1989.Men's Singles National Champions He also served as Chief National Coach of India. He is the Co Founder, Director and Chief Coach in Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy. He was awarded the Dronacharya Award in 2019. He was the bronze medalist in badminton at the 1986 Asian Games in the Men's team event.
Career During his career he won French Open in 1983 & 1984 and Welsh International Open in 1988 & 1991. Vimal also represented India at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, and was ranked within the top 20 in the world. He was the National chief coach of the Indian badminton squad for several years. He quit the post in 2006 to concentrate on coaching youngsters at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy. Now, he is currently coaching star player Saina Nehwal in Bangalore.He also coaches Parupalli Kashyap. Malayalam film actor Kalidas Jayaram is his nephew.
Achievements IBF International +Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 1983 French Open Jürgen Gebhardt 15–5, 15–1 Winner 1984 French Open Tariq Farooq 10–15, 15–6, 15–2 Winner 1987 Bells Open Torben Carlsen 15–6, 5–15, 9–15 Runner-up 1987 Welsh International Steve Baddeley Walkover Winner 1989 Amor International Claus Overbeck 15–12, 13–18, 1–15 Runner-up 1990 Portugal International Peter Smith 15–8, 12–15, 3–15 Runner-up 1990 Strasbourg International Winner 1990 Welsh International Iain Sydie 15–11, 15–5 Winner 1991 Strasbourg International Winner
+Men's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 1990 Portugal International Clive Palmer Nitin Panesar Steve Smith 15–7, 16–17, 5–15 Runner-up
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