Lin Dan, Peter Gade credit Indian badminton's rise to Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth

What's the Story

Two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan was impressed with the way Indian badminton has progressed remarkably in the recent years. But he warned that the Chinese will be back to dominate shuttle sports in the coming years.

"In India, you see players like Saina and Srikanth, they have progressed very well. The youngsters are doing very well too. Currently in China, young people are getting more involved in the sport. In high schools, they have their groups and all. Sooner or later (we will back to be where we were)," said the ace Chinese shuttler said to PTI.

In Case You Didn't Know

The former World No 1 is currently 6th in the BWF Rankings. Danish legend Peter Gade also agreed with Dan about the rise of Badminton in India.

The Heart of the Matter

While Lin Dan agreed that the variety of players in India are growing, he also went on to praise the big stars of the game, who he believes,, are required, in order to keep the sport popular.

Legendary Danish shuttler Peter Gade also hailed the rise of so many top level shuttlers from India. He even went as far as calling it a "big evolution".

"First of all, we see big evolution in popularity of badminton in India because of good performances in the last many years. Saina Nehwal, (PV) Sindhu and (Kidambi) Srikanth. It is very important for the sport to have celebrities, people who are performing on a high level and at the same time the other people know about it," said Gade.

"We have seen a big evolution of Indian badminton players and we need the broader public to know about these players, not only as players but as stars," said the 40-year-old.

What's Next?

The scenario in Indian badminton has been on the rise with shutter Kidambi Srikanth clinching four Super Series titles this year. Gade feels either Sindhu or Srikanth may go on to win the All England title in their respective categories. With Sindhu winning a silver at the Olympics and Srikanth winning the Super Series, he believes it can happen very soon.

Gade also said that it was important for the game of badminton that India produce players at this level. Only then will the big results will come. According to Gade, Asia still remains the power-centre in badminton world. But now we have different countries taking part from Asia and Europe, we have seen Carolina Marin from Spain and a few others. Denmark is also producing players for the highest-level and a few other European countries. Gade believes that it is good for the game if more countries took part.

Sportskeeda's Take:

India has certainly been stamping its mark in various sports and Badminton is just one of them. Kidambi Srikanth, PV Sindhu and other Indian shuttlers are certainly the ones to watch out for in the future.