Karan Rajan keeps the Indian flag flying high after Kidambi Srikanth's heroics

What’s the story?

India’s dominance continued on the world badminton stage as young shuttler Karan Rajan Rajarajan defeated Humblers Heymard of Guatemala 21-19, 21-12 in the final of the Guatemala future series to win the prestigious tournament.

The win comes a few days after K. Srikanth won successive title wins in Indonesia and Australia.

In case you didn’t know…

Karan Rajan is the first International winner from the state of Tamil Nadu and the level-headed player comes from a family of badminton enthusiasts. His brother and father both represented the state at National level competitions and paved the way for Karan to pursue his passion to the best of his abilities.

The heart of the matter

Karan’s win comes at a great time for the sport in India following Srikanth’s double win and the subsequent acknowledgement of the efforts of coach P. Gopichand by Sports Minister Vijay Goel.

Rajan had earlier beaten the top seed at the event, Ruben Castellanos in a major upset en route to the final. In the final, the Tamilian showed grit and determination to fight out the first game and secure the second in grand fashion, bringing the trophy back home to India.

What’s next?

With Indian badminton making huge strides in world sport, the future is very bright for the young badminton stars of tomorrow. Karan Rajan himself came to prominence at the Badminton Premier League in Tamil Nadu, playing against the best players the country had to offer.

Author’s take

Badminton is on the rise and with performances such as these, it is just a matter of time before Indian athletes start dominating the world circuit in other sports as well. The sport’s rapid growth should inspire more investment in sports other than cricket by the government and with a lot of players now rising through the ranks, Indian sports system is hopefully heading in the right direction.