Badminton has long been a popular game in India but was usually played for leisure and not many players thought of making a career in the sport. This has changed in the recent years with a huge number of Indians participating and winning a number of Badminton Tournaments at the National as well as at the international level bringing a lot of laurels to the country and also encouraging the youth to play the game professionally. The following is the list of the top 5 badminton players in India.
Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal is without a doubt the best badminton player in the country with an extremely good performance at the international level. She has won 23 international titles in Badminton in her ongoing career and is currently the World Number 1 woman badminton player.
She has represented in many international sports meets such as the Olympics, Asian Games, World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Asian Championships, Commonwealth Youth Games, World Junior Championships and the Uber Cup winning 20 medals with 5 Gold medals.
Ashwini Ponnappa
She is one of the best Badminton players in the Doubles and the Mixed doubles category. She has won many tournaments at both National and the International levels attaining the highest world ranking of Number 10.
She has represented India at many sports tournaments such as the Asian Games, World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Asian Championships, South Asian Games and the Uber Cup winning a total of 15 medals comprising of 4 Gold medals.
Srikanth Kidambi
He trains at the Gopichand Badminton Academy, Hyderabad became the highest ranked men’s badminton player in the world in April 2018.
He represented the country at various international competitions Commonwealth Games, Asia Team Championship, South Asian Games, Asian Junior Championships, and Commonwealth Youth Games and won 8 different medals including 3 Gold medals.
Prakash Padukone
Prakash Padukone is one of the best badminton players in India and is one of the most well known male Badminton players in India. He was ranked as the World Number One in the International rankings in the year 1980, the same year he went on to be the first Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championships.
He has represented India in various international competitions such as the World Championships, World Cup, World Games, All England Championships, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games winning a total of 7 medals constituting of 3 Gold Medals. He was also awarded the Arjuna Award in 1972.
Jwala Gutta
She is one of the most celebrated badminton players in India. She is extremely skillful, having won the National Championship in Badminton 13 times in her career. She is currently rank 12 in the World Badminton Rankings having attained the highest rank of 10. She is a doubles specialist having won numerous tournaments in Doubles.
Her international performance is very impressive having won medals in the World Championships, Uber Cup, Commonwealth Games, Asia Championships, South Asian Games totalling 11 medals constituting of 4 Gold medals in total. She has also received the Arjuna Award for Badminton in the year 2011 for her outstanding performance in the sport.