5. Kidambi Srikanth
It is never for an athlete to deliver a medal in his maiden Olympic Games. Heading into Rio, Kidambi Srikanth was India’s sole challenger in men’s singles and had a lot of responsibility to carry on his shoulders in the absence of Parupalli Kashyap.
He began his campaign on a victorious note, beating Lino Munoz and Henri Hurskainen in straight games 21-11 21-17 and 21-6 21-18 respectively to move into the Round of 16 stage.
Employing an attacking game, the Indian defeated 5th seed Jan O Jorgenson 21-19 21-19 to move into the quarters. There, he went up against one of the best players of all time in Lin Dan and in a show of terrific fight, the Indian went down 6-21 21-11 21-17 to bow out.
The 23-year-old played a very aggressive game throughout and will look to use this performance as a catalyst to further enhance his performance in the future.