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Over the years, Indian Badminton players have made the nation proud at the highest level by winning several major tournaments at the global stage. From Prakash Padukone's All England title to Saina Nehwal, winning the Olympic bronze in 2012 and further becoming the World No.1 this year, Indian shuttlers have proved their metal to the world time and again.Let's see how they have fared at the International stage over the last few years and also analyze the Top 10 achievements by them:-
#10 Saina Nehwal\'s Indian Open Superseries win in 2015
This was probably the most memorable tournament for Saina and for the entire nation as in this tournament Saina Nehwal became the first ever Indian women badminton player to achieve the World No. 1 ranking.
Just a day afterbecoming the World No. 1,Saina Nehwal clinched the Yonex Sunrise All India Open Super Series title after defeating World No. 8 Thai shuttler Ratchanok Intanon in the summit clash.The top-seeded Nehwal prevailed over the 20-year-old Intanon 21-16, 21-14 in the womens singles finalwhich lasted 49minutes at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in Delhi.
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Nehwal also becamethe first non-Chinese player in five years to become No. 1.
#9 Saina Nehwal\'s Australian Open Superseries title in 2014
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal clinched the Australian Open Superseries title in June,2014 after defeating Spaniard Carolina Marin in the final match. This was Saina’s first Superseries title after a gap of almost two years.
Saina, who was seeded sixth in that tournament stunned the top seed Wang Shixian 21-19, 16-21, 21-15 in a marathon semifinal match, which lasted for an hour and 16 minutes.This win also helped Saina Nehwal to climb two spots in the BWF Rankings.
Saina, a former World Junior Champion has won a total of 16 titles (Superseries and Grand Prix Gold) in her career so far.
#8 Syed Modi\'s Commonwealth Games Gold in 1982
Eight-timeNational Champion and Arjuna Awardee, Syed Modi won the gold medal in mens singles event at the 1982 Commonwealth Games after defeatingNick Yates of England7-15, 15-5, 15-7 in the final.
He was the second Indian player to win the Gold medal in mens singles at the Commonwealth Games, Prakash Padukone won this prestigious medal in 1978. For the next 32 years, no other Indian mens singles playerwas able to equalizethis remarkable feat. In 2014, Parupalli Kashyap won the gold in Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
In 1983 and 1984, he won the Australian International. His game started going downhill only in 1987-88, when his marriage came under strain and Modi lost the national badminton championship for the first time ever in 1988. A few months later, he was murdered.
#7 Saina Nehwal\'s 2010 Commomnwealth Games Gold
Saina’s Commonwealth Games Gold in 2010 is surely one of the best achievements in Indian Badminton history. Saina, who was the top-seeded player in that tournament defeated the Malaysian shuttler Mew Choo Wong 19-21, 23-21, 21-13 in an edge-of-the-seat final encounter.
With this win, the 20-year old Indian ace also created the history as she became the first Indian woman to win the singles gold in badminton at the Commonwealth Games.
After her victory Saina said, "when I was a match-point down, it was like a shock. It was a big match and winning it means a lot to me. Even many years from now, those present here will always remember how Saina won the gold. It is a proud feeling".
Here are the highlights from that final. [Video courtesy: DD Sports]
#6 Parupalli Kashyap\'s Commonwealth Games Gold in 2014
Hyderabadi shuttler Parupalli Kashyap etched his name firmly in the history books by becoming the first Indian male shuttler in 32 years to win a gold medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, last year. A bronze medallist at the Delhi Games four years ago, the 28-year-old played a sensational game of nerves to eke out a breath-taking 21-14 11-21 21-19 triumph against the higher ranked Derek Wong of Singapore in the summit clash.
Kashyap, who is currently ranked 15th in the latest BWF World Rankings started his International career at the age of 19 but his major breakthrough came in the year 2009 when he reached the semifinals of the Singapore Open Superseries.
Kashyap has won three Grand Prix gold titles, but he is yet to win a Superseries title. He was honoured with Arjuna Award in the year 2012.
Here are the highlights of that final [Video courtesy: BBC]
#5 Kidambi Srikanth\'s China Open Superseries victory in 2014
Kidambi Srikanth has shown tremendous growth as a player in the last 14-16 months. The year 2014 was an incredible year for this 22-year old Guntur born player. Srikanth, who was ranked 47th in the first week of January 2014 ended the year ranked 4th in the world.
The most incredible and the most remarkable win for Srikanth came in the final of China Open Superseries Premier when he stunned the two time Olympic and five time World Champion Lin Dan in the finals. This win brought a new revolution in Indian Badminton as with this title win, he also became the first Indian male shuttler to win the Superseries Premier title.
The year 2015 has been a decent year for the 22-year old Guntur born player as he won the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold and India Open Superseries title in March.
#4 Pullela Gopichand\'s All England Title in 2001
Pullela Gopichand, who is the only Indian to win student (Arjuna in 1999 ) and teacher (Dronacharya in 2009) Award, grabbed the All England Badminton Championships title in March, 2001 after defeating Chen Hong of China, 15-12, 15-6 in the finals. In the semifinals he defeated the then world number one Peter Gade of Denmark.
The All England championships is to badminton what Wimbledon is to tennis: the oldest of the majors, the most sought after, the most venerated trophy.Gopichand won his first National Championship title in 1996 and then went on to win the title five times in a row, until 2000. He also won a silver and a bronze in men’s team and singles event respectively at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, held in Kuala Lumpur.
41-year old Gopichand, who currently runs the badminton academy in Hyderabad, was felicitated with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2001 and Padma Bhushan award; nation’s third highest civilian award in 2014.
Here’s a video of that final.
#3 P.V Sindhu\'s World Championships bronze in 2013
Indian teenage badminton sensation and current World No. 9 P.V Sindhu stunned the badminton world when she won the bronze medal at the 2013 World Championships at the age of 18. With this win, Sindhu became the first Indian women's singles player to win the medal at the World Championships.
This win was much more special for the young Indian shuttler as she stunned the then World No.2 Wang Yihan in the second round and then defeated another higher ranked Chinese player Wang Shixian in the Quarterfinals. She, however, lost to the eventual gold medalist Ratchanok Intanon in the semis.
With this win, Sindhu marked her presence in the International arena. She repeated this feat in the 2014 World Championships and thus became the first Indian shuttler to win two back-to-back medals at the World Badminton Championships. She was conferred with Padma Shri in 2015.
#2 Prakash Padukone\'s All England Title in 1980
Born on 10th June 1955 in Karnataka, Prakash Padukone became the first Indian player to win the All England Badminton Championships. He won the coveted All England Open title in 1980 with a victory over Liem Swie King of Indonesia.
The All England win catapulted Prakash Padukone to the number one in the world badminton, making him the first Indian to achieve this historical feat.Being awarded Arjuna Award in 1972 and Padma Shri in 1982, Padukone won the first Alba World Cup in October 1981 and also the first edition of Indian Open (then called as Indian Masters) in Pune in 1982.
He was also the coach of the Indian national badminton team from 1993 to 1996.
Here’s a video of that historic game.
#1 Saina Nehwal\'s Olympic Bronze in the 2012 London Olympics
The bronze medal won by Saina Nehwal in 2012 London Olympics is surely one of the most memorable and historical achievement by her so far. She created history by becoming the first Indian to win an Olympic Games bronze medal in badminton.
With this win, Saina also became the second Indian woman to win an Olympic medal, after Karnam Malleswari's weightlifting bronze in 2000 Sydney Olympics.Though Saina lost to Wang Yihan in the semis but she defeated the then World No. 2 Wang Xin of China in the bronze medal play-off.
Saina, who is currently the World No. 2 is determined to win the Gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
