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For a long time, cricket was considered to be the only sport in India which brought laurels and produced champions on a consistent basis. But there has been a shift in that norm in the last few years with badminton emerging as a strong contender, following the performances of Saina Nehwal, P.V. Sindhu etc on the global stage.However, the encouraging aspect about badminton is the emergence of a newer crop of players, who have been doing equally well in tournaments so far.Here’s a look at 5 emerging badminton players from India.
#5 Sourabh Varma
Currently ranked 56 in the world, Sourabh Varma became the Indian National Badminton champion at the age of 19 and also won his first international title that year when he won at the Bahrain International Challenge. He, further continued his good form that year, by reaching the final of the Syed Modi Grand Prix where he lost to Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia.
Sourabh then went on to win the 2013 Tata International Challenge held in Mumbai, defeating Prannoy Kumar in the final and had a fruitful time in 2014 as well, winning two titles- the Iran Fajr International Challenge as well the Austrian International Challenge where he beat Taiwans Hsu Jen-hao.
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He also won the silver at the 2014 Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold and can certainly be considered as someone on whom we can pin our hopes for the future.
#4 RMV Gurusaidutt
Another extremely promising youngster, RMV Gurusaidutt first burst onto the scene in 2008, when he won gold at the Youth Commonwealth Games held in Pune and also won the bronze at the BWF World Junior Championships held in the same year in the same city. He also became the first Indian to win the Dutch Junior International that year and rounded off 2008 by winning the Bahrain International Challenge badminton championship.
Gurusaidutt reached the quarter-finals of the 2009 Denmark Super Series and then created a major upset the following year when he beat former All England champion Muhammad Hafeez Hashim in the quarters of the India Open Badminton Championship. He also won the silver at the India Open Grand Prix Gold that year.
But perhaps the biggest achievement of his career came last year, when won the bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, defeating Rajiv Ouseph of Great Britain in three games.
While the performance of India in womens singles has been over a considerable period of time, the mens singles has also seen good improvement in the last few years with the likes of Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy performing well in major tournaments. One can only hope that with the inclusion of Gurusaidutt, Indian badminton only continues to gofrom strength-to-strength.
#3 Ajay Jayaram
Ajay Jayaram is another player who could be considered a hopeful in the coming few years. The 27-year-old reached the pre-quarterfinals of the 2011 World Championships held in London and also reached the semifinals of the Li Ning Masters in 2012. Prior to the 2011 World Championship, Jayaram also reached the quarter-finals of the Super Series events held in France as well Hong Kong in 2010.
Jayaram reached his highest individual ranking of 21 in 2013 and was also part of the Hyderabad Hotshotswhen they won the inaugural Indian Badminton League in 2013.
He is supported by the Olympic Gold Quest and their support in the past has reaped benefits with the likes of Saina Nehwal, P. V Sindhu, Parupalli Kashyap etc doing very well in the international stage and one can only hope that Jayaram joins the list and brings more laurels to the country.
#2 Arundhati Pantanwane
Another player, coached by Pullela Gopichand, Arundhati Pantawane is presently the third highest ranking Indian in the womens singles badminton. The 25-year-old was part of the team that took part in the Asian Games in 2010 and won the Bahrain International Challenge in 2012.
Pantawane reached her highest singles ranking in June 2013 of 49 and defeated the 5thseed Beatriz Corrales of Spain at the Syed Modi International Championship and also gave Saina Nehwal a run-for-her-money in the following round, before eventually losing out to her 21-17 21-18.
While Pantawane might not have many tournament victories under her belt, she can definitely be considered a contender to represent the country in major events in the future.
#1 Aditi Mutatkar
Born in Gwalior, Aditi Mutatkar is only the third Indian player to have won the Badminton Nationals in all age categories. The 27-year-old has won the National Badminton Championships on 5 occasions and achieved her highest badminton ranking of 27 in 2008 after reaching the finals of the Bitburger Open in Germany.
Aditi was also part of the team that won silver in the mixed team event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and is also the second Indian women after Saina Nehwal to have reached the final of a Grand Prix event, again in 2008. She is also the last player to have defeated the World No. 2 in a competitive match.
While Indias hopes in womens singles restin the safe hands of Saina and P.V Sindhu at the moment, there is no doubt that one also needs to keep an eye on the future and Aditi could certainly be a candidate who could take Indian Badminton forward.
