Rajiv Kumar Rai (born February 3, 1983) is an American badminton player of Indian descent. He won a bronze medal, along with his partner Mesinee Mangkalakiri, in the mixed doubles at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Rai is also a member of Orange County Badminton Club in Anaheim, California, and is coached and trained by former Olympic doubles champion Tony Gunawan (2000).
Rai qualified for the men's singles at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, after he was ranked sixty-eighth in the world, and awarded an entry as one of the top 38 seeded players by the Badminton World Federation. He received a bye for the second preliminary round before losing out to Finland's Ville Lång, with a score of 9–21 and 16–21.
Rai is a former coach of Bellevue Badminton Club, and also, an athlete director for the U.S. national badminton team. He, along with fellow Olympian Bob Malaythong, currently coaches the top junior players in the United States at Synergy Badminton Academy in Menlo Park, California.
Achievements
Pan American Games Mixed doubles YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult2003UASD Pavilion,Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Mesinee Mangkalakiri Philippe Bourret Denyse Julien8–15, 7–15 Bronze
Pan Am Championships Men's singles YearVenueOpponentScoreResult2005Bridgetown, Barbados Andrew Dabeka2–15, 9–15 Bronze
Men's doubles YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult2005Bridgetown, Barbados Bob Malaythong Mike Beres William Milroy11–15, 15–8, 15–6 Gold
BWF Grand Prix The BWF Grand Prix has two level such as Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007.
Men's doubles YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult2008U.S Open Halim Haryanto Howard Bach Bob Malaythong14–21, 19–21 Runner-up BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament BWF Grand Prix tournament
BWF International Challenge/Series Men's singles YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult2008Nigeria International Alexandre Paixão13–21, 14–21 Runner-up2008Giraldilla International Yuhan Tan19–21, 19–21 Runner-up2007Hellas International Marc Zwiebler14–21, 16–21 Runner-up2007Carebaco International Brice Leverdez12–21, 17–21 Runner-up2004Carebaco International Andrew Dabeka9–15, 7–15 Runner-up
Men's doubles YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult2005Southern Carolina International Bob Malaythong Howard Bach Tony Gunawan0–1 Retired Runner-up2004Carebaco International Bob Malaythong Alexandre Tremblay Tom Lucas Picher15–5, 15–7 Winner2004New Zealand International Bob Malaythong Shuichi Nakao Shuichi Sakamoto3–15, 15–10, 12–15 Runner-up
Mixed doubles YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult2005Southern Carolina International Mesinee Mangkalakiri Philippe Bourret Denyse Julien6–15, 9–15 Runner-up BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament BWF Future Series tournament
References
External links
NBC 2008 Olympics profile