5 records broken by Indian shuttlers in 2017

Indian badminton has been undergoing a renaissance in 2017 with almost everyone speaking of some feat by the country’s shuttlers. The queens of Indian badminton - Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu - have definitely had their own success to show for but it is the men who have stolen the show and how!

The country is now very much a badminton powerhouse and the one to beat by other teams.

Here are five records or unprecedented achievements by Indian shuttlers in 2017.

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#1 A series of firsts for Srikanth Kidambi

Srikanth Kidambi is back and we can only feel blessed! The former World No. 3 pushed aside all the agony of his stress fracture last year that robbed him three months and has come back to the BWF Tour with a bang!

Like a fine wine, the Guntur-born player is only getting better with age. Buoyed by the arrival of the Indonesian coach Mulyo Handoyo, the 24-year-old is playing with confidence, striking his shots with a lot more venom. And that attitude has rewarded him with back-to-back Superseries titles at the Indonesian Open and the Australian Open and an incredible 10-match winning streak. It made him the first Indian man to pull this off.

Not only that, having reached the Singapore Open Superseries summit clash before that, the three consecutive finals made him the first Indian man and just the sixth player in history to achieve this feat.

#2 Srikanth Kidambi on top of the money list

Srikanth is now also ahead of the sport’s two legends - Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan

Srikanth’s stupendous success also sent his bank balance through the roof. The World No. 8 now has a staggering US $147,847.50 in earnings calculated till the end of the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix held from June 27-July 2 which makes him the money leader of 2017.

Even the women’s singles World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying, who has lost just two matches this year, could not catch up to him. The Chinese Taipei ace trails the Indian by nearly US $15,000.

With that, Srikanth is now also ahead of the sport’s two legends - Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan - who have US$71, 300.00 and US$69, 795.00 respectively.

#3 Four women’s singles players in World Championships after 32 years

India thus joins China and Japan as the only three countries to have achieved a full quota of places in women’s singles

Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu have long been the torchbearers of Indian women’s singles badminton and their qualification for the prestigious World Championships is an annual affair.

But what is more heartening to see is that there are two more names this time in this category after Sindhu and Saina. Reigning national champion Rituparna Das and the 79th ranked Tanvi Lad too have made the cut.

India thus joins China and Japan as the only three countries to have achieved a full quota of places in women’s singles, emulating the 1985 World Championships when India’s Hufrish Nariman, Madhumita Bisht, Ami Ghia and Deepti Thanekar represented the country.

#4 14 men’s singles players in top 100

B Sai Praneeth

The Indian men’s singles players have emerged from the shadows of Saina and Sindhu and have made their own mark this year. That Indian badminton is much, much more than just the two golden girls, has been validated time and again this season with the likes of Srikanth Kidambi, B Sai Praneeth, Sameer Verma and HS Prannoy all winning titles.

Perhaps the greatest demonstration of this fact is in the BWF world men’s singles rankings. 14 Indians entered the top 100 of the rankings in April for the first time ever with six of them in the top 50.

If nothing else, this should be the best indicator of how far the men have come.

#5 5 Grand Prix Gold singles titles

HS Prannoy has become the first Indian winner of the US Open

The 2017 season still has four more months to go, but Indian singles exponents already have some unprecedented achievements in their kitty. This is the first time in the 11-year history of the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold series tournaments that Indian singles players have claimed as many as five titles at the Grand Prix Gold level.

2014 and 2015 were the only two seasons when Indians had four singles triumphs across men’s and women’s categories. But this time, they have surpassed even that.

The year began with the shuttle queen Saina Nehwal claiming the Malaysia Masters crown. PV Sindhu and Sameer Verma soon followed her with their wins at the Syed Modi International.

In early June, Sai Praneeth dazzled in his title-winning run at the Thailand Open and now HS Prannoy has become the first Indian winner of the US Open.