Badminton is a popular sport in India. It is managed by the Badminton Association of India which is associated with Badminton Asia and Badminton World Federation.
Indian shuttlers Prakash Padukone, Srikanth Kidambi, Jwala Gutta, Saina Nehwal, P. V. Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, Prannoy H. S., Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have all ranked in the world's top ten.
Prakash Padukone was the first player from India to achieve the world no. 1 spot in the game, after which Srikanth Kidambi became the second male player to make it to the top spot in April 2018. Saina Nehwal was the first female player from India to achieve the world no. 1 spot, which she did in April 2015, and the first Indian badminton player to win a medal at the Olympic Games.
P. V. Sindhu is the first Indian to become the World Champion, which she achieved in 2019, and the only badminton player from India to win two consecutive medals at the Olympic Games. One of the most successful Indian doubles player is Jwala Gutta, who was the only Indian to have rank in the top 10 of two categories. She peaked at #6 with Valiyaveetil Diju in mixed doubles and at #10 with Ashwini Ponnappa in women's doubles.
Other successful players include Pullela Gopichand, Aparna Popat, Syed Modi, Chetan Anand, and Parupalli Kashyap.
History
Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand both won the All England Open in 1980 and 2001 respectively, making them the only Indians to win the prestigious title.
Saina Nehwal won the bronze medal in the individual women's competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the first Olympic medal for the country in badminton. P. V. Sindhu won the second and the third Olympic medals in badminton for India, winning a silver and a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics respectively.
India has won several medals at the BWF World Championships as well, with Prakash Padukone winning the first in 1982. The doubles pairing of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa became the first women to win a medal when they won the bronze in 2011. P. V. Sindhu then won consecutive bronze medals at 2013 and 2014 editions, the first Indian player to do so. Saina Nehwal won a first-ever silver at the 2015 Championships, and then a bronze in 2017.. P. V. Sindhu won silver in consecutive editions in 2017 and 2018. Sindhu then went on to win the gold at the 2019 BWF World Championships and become the first Indian to ever finish on top of the podium. At the same edition, B. Sai Praneeth medalled in the men's singles after 36 years, clinching the bronze. As a result, for the first time, India won medals in two different disciplines in the same BWF World Championships edition. In 2021, Lakshya Sen won the bronze medal in men's singles while Srikanth Kidambi won the silver, the first time India had two medallists in the same edition in the men's singles discipline. In 2022, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won India's first World Championship medal in the men's doubles, a bronze. Till date, India has never returned empty handed from the World Championships since 2011.
At the BWF World Junior Championships, Saina Nehwal is the only gold medalist for India, which she achieved in 2008. At the Badminton Asia Junior Championships, P. V. Sindhu and Lakshya Sen are the only gold medalists for India, winning in their respective categories in 2012 and 2018 respectively.
Medal table
World rankings
Olympic Games Year Event Player Result2024Men's singles Lakshya Sen 4th Prannoy H. S. Round of 16 Women's singles P. V. Sindhu Round of 16 Men's doubles Satwiksairaj RankireddyChirag Shetty Quarter Finals Women's doubles Ashwini PonnappaTanisha Crasto Group Stage2020 Men's singles B. Sai Praneeth Group Stage Women's singles P. V. Sindhu Men's doubles Satwiksairaj RankireddyChirag Shetty Group Stage2016 Men's singles Srikanth Kidambi Quarter-finals Women's singles P. V. Sindhu Women's singles Saina Nehwal Group Stage Men's doubles Manu AttriB. Sumeeth Reddy Group Stage Women's doubles Jwala GuttaAshwini Ponnappa Group Stage2012 Men's singles Parupalli Kashyap Quarter Finals Women's singles Saina Nehwal Women's doubles Jwala GuttaAshwini Ponnappa Group Stage Mixed doubles Valiyaveetil DijuJwala Gutta Group Stage2008 Men's singles Anup Sridhar Second Round Women's singles Saina Nehwal Quarter Finals2004 Men's singles Nikhil Kanetkar Round of 16 Men's singles Abhinn Shyam Gupta Round of 32 Women's singles Aparna Popat Round of 162000 Men's singles Pullela Gopichand Third Round Women's singles Aparna Popat First Round1996 Men's singles Deepankar Bhattacharya Second Round Women's singles P. V. V. Lakshmi Second Round1992 Men's singles Deepankar Bhattacharya Third Round Women's singles Madhumita Bisht Second Round Men's doubles Deepankar BhattacharyaU. Vimal Kumar First Round
Paralympic Games Year Event Player Result2024Men's singles SL3 Manoj Sarkar Group stage Nitesh Kumar Men's singles SL4 Suhas Yathiraj Sukant Kadam 4th Tarun Dhillon Group stageMen's singles SH6 Krishna Nagar Group stage Sivarajan Solaimalai Group stageWomen's singles SL3 Manasi Joshi Group stage Mandeep Kaur Quarter-finals Women's singles SL4 Palak Kohli Quarter-finalsWomen's singles SU5 Thulasimathi Murugesan Manisha Ramadass Women's singles SH6 Nithya Sivan Mixed doubles SL3–SU5 Nitesh KumarThulasimathi Murugesan Group stage Suhas YathirajPalak Kohli Group stage Mixed doubles SH6 Sivarajan SolaimalaiNithya Sivan 4th2020Men's singles SL3 Pramod Bhagat Manoj Sarkar Men's singles SL1 Tarun Dhillon 4th Suhas Yathiraj Men's singles SH6 Krishna Nagar Women's singles SL4 Parul Parmar Group stage Women's singles SU5 Palak Kohli Quarter-finals Women's doubles SL3–SU5 Parul ParmarPalak Kohli Group stage Mixed doubles SL3–SU5 Pramod BhagatPalak Kohli 4th
National award recipients Year Recipient Award Gender2000–2001 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Male2010 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Female2016 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Female1961 Arjuna Award Male1962 Arjuna Award Female1965 Arjuna Award Male1967 Arjuna Award Male1969 Arjuna Award Male1970 Arjuna Award Female1971 Arjuna Award Female1972 Arjuna Award Male1974 Arjuna Award Male1975 Arjuna Award Male1976 Arjuna Award Female1977–1978 Arjuna Award Female1980–1981 Arjuna Award Male1982 Arjuna Award Female1982 Arjuna Award Male1999 Arjuna Award Male2000 Arjuna Award Male2004 Arjuna Award Male2005 Arjuna Award Female2006 Arjuna Award Male2007 Arjuna Award Male2009 Arjuna Award Female2011 Arjuna Award Female2012 Arjuna Award Male2012 Arjuna Award Female2013 Arjuna Award Female2014 Arjuna Award Male2015 Arjuna Award Male2018 Arjuna Award Female2019 Arjuna Award Male2020 Arjuna Award Male2020 Arjuna Award Male2022 Arjuna Award Male2022 Arjuna Award Male2020 Dhyan Chand Award Male2020 Dhyan Chand Award Female2017 Dronacharya Award Male2000 Dronacharya Award Male2009 Dronacharya Award Male2019 Dronacharya Award Male
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See also Badminton Association of India India national badminton team Indian National Badminton Championships
References