Who is Suryaksh Rawat? All you need to know about the rising shuttler who caught PV Sindhu’s attention

A 16-year-old young shuttler from Uttarakhand, Suryaksh Rawat hogged the spotlight after his stellar performance in the men’s singles semi-final at the 38th National Games in front of his home crowd.

The unseeded Rawat made a stunning comeback in the semi-final against the second-seeded Saneeth Dayanad after losing the first game by 13-21. He had put up an excellent effort in the next two games by 22-20, and 21-19 to storm into the final.

His performance in the semi-final caught the attention of two-time Olympic medallist shuttler, PV Sindhu. She took to X (Formerly Twitter) to praise the young badminton player.

"An absolute no-brainer in terms of talent. A rare talent with excellent defense, and many other qualities. Wishing you the best, Suryaksh," legendary shuttler PV Sindhu wrote on X.

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Suryaksh Rawat fell in love with badminton at eight

Interestingly, Suryaksh Rawat picked up the badminton racquet for the first time as an eight-year-old in his native, Dehradun. He went on to put up a few decent results in district and state competitions.

Rawat’s father is a doctor and his mother is a housewife. After his performances caught the attention of his then-coaches, they convinced his family to take the sport seriously to reach newer heights.

Rawat expressed his wish to join the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) by sending them an email. After an intense selection camp, he joined the academy and started his professional journey.

Notably, Rawat currently trains with Lakshya Sen’s father, DK Sen, at the famous PPBA in Bengaluru. Importantly, he left his home state at a very young age due to poor infrastructure.

In the men’s singles final at the 38th National Games, Rawat fell short of securing the gold medal as he lost to Satish Kumar by 17-21 and 17-21. Nevertheless, his impressive performance in the competition made his home crowd proud.