Top Ranked Badminton Players Of India

The humiliating defeat in the final of ICC Champion Trophy against arch rival Pakistan gave a deep pain to Indians.  Srikanth Kidambi gave Indians a pain relief by his outstanding performance. India's Kidambi Srikanth claimed a first victory over Olympic and two-time world champion Chen Long to win the Australian Open Super series final in Sydney. The 11th-ranked Srikanth outgunned the sixth-ranked Chinese star 22-20, 21-16 in 46 minutes for his second successive Super series title after winning the Indonesia.

The surge of badminton from the last 5-6 years has been phenomenal. There are wide ranges of players coming out to play for the country and represent the nation at international level. As of now, India has been created history by winning world championship, Olympic medals and others.

Let us know about the top Badminton World Federation ranked players of India.

Srikanth Kidambi

Rank 11 (22 June 2017)

Srikanth Kidambi is an Indian badminton player with a world ranking of 11 as of June 22, 2017.He shot to prominence by defeating Olympic Champion Lin Dan in 2014 China Open Super Series Premier by 21–19 21–17 in the final round, thus becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series Premier Men's title.He trains at the Gopichand Badminton Academy, Hyderabad and is supported by the GoSports Foundation, Bangalore.

Career

2011 : In the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games in Isle of Man, Kidambi won the silver in mixed doubles and bronze in doubles. He also emerged winner in the singles and doubles category at the All India Junior International Badminton Championship held in Pune.

2012:In 2012 Kidambi overcame the then Junior World Champion Zulfadli Zulkiffli of Malaysia in the Maldives International Challenge to claim the Men’s singles title.

2013 :In the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold event, Kidambi won the Men’s singles title beating then world number eight and local favorite Boonsak Ponsana in straight sets. In the same year, Kidambi beat reigning champion and Olympian Parupalli Kashyap in the All India Senior National Championships in Delhi to claim his first senior national title.He was also part of the Awadhe Warriors team that finished second in the Indian Badminton League, 2013.

2014 : Kidambi finished runner up at the 2014 India Open Grand Prix Gold event in Lucknow and was a quarter finalist in 2014 Malaysian Open.He was part of the Indian badminton contingent that reached the semi finals of the Mixed-team event at the Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow. He also reached the quarter finals of the Men's Singles event in the same tournament. In November, he created a major upset in the final of the 2014 China Open Super Series Premier by beating 5 times World Champion and 2 times Olympic Champion Lin Dan in straight sets (21–19 21–17), thus becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series Premier Men's title. He then reached semifinals of Hong Kong Open Super Series after beating in-form Chou Tien Chen in the early rounds. He lost to Chen Long of China in three sets in the semifinals. With those wins he was qualified for the world super series finals. He defeated Kento Momota (15–21 21–16 21–10) and Tommy Sugiarto (21–18 21–13) in the group stage to reach Semi Finals of the prestigious BWF Super Series Masters Finals where he again lost to Chen Long of China.

2015 :Kidambi became the first Indian male to win gold at the 2015 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold by defeating Viktor Axelsen 21–15,12–21,21–14.The same year he also won India Open Super Series title by defeating Viktor Axelsen in the finals

2016 : Kidambi reached the semifinal in the Malaysia Masters, where he lost to Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin of Malaysia in January. The following week he won the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships Grand Prix Gold title, defeating Huang Yuxiang 21–13, 14–21, 21–14 in the final. At the 2016 South Asian Games, he won two gold medals, in men's team and men's singles, defeating Prannoy Kumar in the singles final. At the 2016 Badminton Asia Team Championship, although his team lost in the semifinal, he remained undefeated.

In the 2016 Rio Olympics, the World No. 11, Kidambi entered the round of 16 of the men's singles by beating Lino Muñoz and Henri Hurskainen. He went on to beat World No. 5 Jørgensen 21–19, 21–19 to reach the quarterfinals, but was defeated by Lin Dan by a score of 6–21, 21–11, and 18–21.

2017 : Srikanth Kadambi and Sai Praneeth created history when they became the first ever Indian pair to enter the finals of a ranking event in Badminton. Both hailing from Hyderabad and being coached by Pullela Gopichand, it was Sai Praneeth who prevailed 17-21, 21-17, 21-12 eventually to clinch the Singapore Super Series title.

He won the Indonesian Open Super Series 2017 beating Japan's Kazumasa Sakai 21-11,21-19 thereby becoming the 1st ever Indian man to do so. He also went on to win Australian Open Super Series beating China's Chen Long 22-20, 21-16, making a record of entering three continuous Super Series Events Finals.

P.V.Sindhu

Rank 4 (22 June 2017)

Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (born 5 July 1995) is an Indian professional badminton player, who is currently world no 4 in the BWF World Ranking. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal. She is one of the two Indian badminton players to ever win an Olympic medal – other being Saina Nehwal.

Sindhu came to international attention when she broke into the top 20 of the BWF World Ranking in September 2012 at the age of 17. In 2013, she became the first ever Indian women's singles player to win a medal at the Badminton World Championships. In March 2015, she is the recipient of India's fourth highest civilian honor, the Padma Shri. Her silver medal win in the women's singles event of the 2016 Summer Olympics made her the first Indian shuttler to reach the final of an Olympics badminton event and the youngest Indian to make a podium finish in an individual event at the Olympics.

Women's Singles

Highest ranking 2 (4th April 2017

Current ranking                4 (22nd June 2017)

Olympic Games

Silver medal – second place        2016 Rio de Janeiro         Women's singles

World Championships

Bronze medal – third place          2013 Guangzhou              Women's Singles

Bronze medal – third place          2014 Copenhagen            Women's Singles

Uber Cup

Bronze medal – third place          2014 New Delhi Team

Bronze medal – third place          2016 Kunshan    Team

Asian Games

Bronze medal – third place          2014 Incheon     Women's team

Commonwealth Games

Bronze medal – third place          2014 Glasgow    Women's Singles

Asia Championships

Bronze medal – third place          2014 Gimcheon Women's Singles

South Asian Games

Silver medal – second place        2016 Guwahati  Women's Singles

Gold medal – first place                2016 Guwahati  Women's Team

Asian Junior Championships

Bronze medal – third place          2011 Lucknow    Girls' Singles

Bronze medal – third place          2011 Lucknow    Mixed Team

Gold medal – first place                2012 Gimcheon Girls' Singles

Commonwealth Youth Games

Gold medal – first place                2011 Douglas      Girls' Singles

Saina Nehwal

Rank 16 (22 June 2017)

Saina Nehwal ; born 17 March 1990) is a professional badminton singles player from India. Nehwal, the former world no. 1. She has won over twenty international titles, which include ten Super-series titles. Although she reached to the world no. 2 ranking in 2009, it was only in 2015 that she was able to attain the world no. 1 ranking. And thereby becoming the only female player from India and overall the second Indian player – after Prakash Padukone – to achieve this feat. She has represented India three times in the Olympics, winning bronze medal in her second appearance.

Nehwal has achieved several milestones in badminton for India. She is the only Indian to have won at least a medal in every BWF major individual event, namely the Olympics, the BWF World Championships, and the BWF World Junior Championships. She is the first Indian badminton player to have won an Olympic medal, along with being the only Indian to have won the BWF World Junior Championships or to have reached to the final of the BWF World Championships. In 2006, Nehwal became the first Indian female and the youngest Asian to win a 4-star tournament. She also has the distinction of being the first Indian to win a Super Series title. In the 2014 Uber Cup, she captained the Indian team and remained undefeated, helping India to win bronze medal. It was India's first medal in any BWF major team event.

Considered one of the most successful Indian sportspersons,she is credited for increasing the popularity of badminton in India. In 2016, the Government of India (GoI) conferred the Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award – on her. Previously, the nation's top two sporting honours, namely the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award, were also conferred on her by the GoI.

Coach    Vimal Kumar

Women's singles

Career title(s)    20

Highest ranking 1 (2 April 2015)

Current ranking                16 (22 June 2017)

Olympic Games

Bronze medal – third place          2012 London      Women's singles

World Championships

Silver medal – second place        2015 Jakarta       Women's Singles

Asian Championships

Bronze medal – third place          2010 New Delhi Women's singles

Bronze medal – third place          2016 Wuhan       Women's singles

Uber Cup

Bronze medal – third place          2014 New Delhi Team

Bronze medal – third place          2016 Kunshan    Team

Asian Games

Bronze medal – third place          2014 Incheon     Women's team

Commonwealth Games

Gold medal – first place                2010 New Delhi Women's singles

Silver medal – second place        2010 New Delhi Mixed Team

Bronze medal – third place          2006 Melbourne               Mixed Team

World Junior Championships

Gold medal – first place                2008 Pune           Girls' singles

Silver medal – second place        2006 Incheon     Girls' singles

Commonwealth Youth Games

Gold medal – first place                2008 Pune           Girls' singles

Silver medal – second place        2004 Bendigo     Mixed team

Ajay Jayram

Current ranking 15 (22 Jun 2017)

Ajay Jayaram (born 28 September 1987) is a badminton player from Mumbai sponsored by Li-Ning. He plays for the Mumbai Rockets in the Premier Badminton League. He is currently sponsored by Li-Ning, and coached by India-Born British coach Tom John. Jayaram was a former champion of the Czech International and Dutch Open tournament.

Asia Team Championships

Bronze medal – third place          2016 Hyderabad               Men's team

Year       Tournament                             Opponent                                            Result

2016       Dutch Open                            Chinese Taipei Wang Tzu-wei          Runner-up

2015       Korea Open                            China Chen Long                             Runner-up

2015       Dutch Open                            Estonia Raul Must                            Winner

2014       Dutch Open                            Indonesia Ihsan Maulana Mustofa   Winner

2010       Dutch Open                           Japan Sho Sasaki                              Runner-up

2010       Czech International                Republic of Ireland Scott Evans        Winner

2010       Smiling Fish International       Malaysia Iskandar Zulkarnain           Winner

2008       Waikato International             India Prakash Jolly                            Winner

2008       North Shore City Interna.       New Zealand John Moody                 Runner-up

     Sai Praneeth B.

Rank 16 (22 June 2017)

Sai Praneeth Bhamidipati (born 10 August 1992 in Andhra Pradesh) is a male Indian badminton player hailing from Hyderabad, Telangana.

Career.

The right handed Sai Praneeth stunned 2003 All England Champion Muhammad Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia at the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold tournament in the first round.

2013 has been a memorable year so far for Sai Praneeth B. He stunned the world by sending back Taufik Hidayat unexpectedly early at his home ground in front of home crowd, thus ruining his farewell from an illustrious career as a professional badminton player. He defeated Taufik Hidayat in the first round match of Djarum Indonesia Open 2013 by 2-1 games with the final score being 15-21, 21-12, 21-17.Barely a few day later on 19 June 2013, he again upstaged a much higher ranked player. This time world number four Hu Yun of Hong Kong in the Singapore Super Series.

At the 2016 All England Super Series Premier, Sai Praneeth stunned the 2nd seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the 1st Round 24-22, 22-20 in straight sets.On July 2016, he won the 2016 Canada Open Grand Prix in the men’s singles category. In the final match played at Calgary, Praneeth defeated Lee Hyun-il of South Korea by 21-12, 21-10 score.It is his maiden grand prix trophy. In 2017, he won the Singapore Open Super Series after beating his compatriot Srikanth Kidambi in rubber games,hence becoming the fourth Indian to win a super-series title after Saina Nehwal,Srikanth Kidambi and P.V.Sindhu.

Prannoy H.S.

Current ranking 21 (22 Jun 2017)

Prannoy Haseena Sunil Kumar also known as HS Prannoy was born on July 17, 1992. He is an Indian badminton player and currently trains at the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad.Prannoy originally hails from Thiruvananthapuram and is the Indian number 2 (as of 2 April 2015) in badminton Prannoy is supported by the GoSports Foundation, Bangalore and has been part of their scholarship programme since 2011.

Career

Early career : Prannoy came to prominence after winning the silver medal in Boys' singles at 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.He didn't stop there and followed it up with another silver, this time at the Bahrain International Challenge, 2011.Struggling for form and injuries a bit of a barren spell followed Prannoy following these achievements.

2013 : In 2013, he managed to reach the final of the Tata Open International Challenge in Mumbai, eventually losing to fellow GoSports Foundation athlete Sourabh Verma in the final.

2014 :In 2014, he claimed two All India Senior National Ranking Championships: Manorama Indian Open All India Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament, Kerala and the V.V.Natu Memorial All India Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament, Pune.However it was his exploits at the international circuit that caught everyone's attention. He was a semi-finalist at the 2014 India Open Grand Prix Gold,Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold,2014 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold and the Sri Lanka Open International Badminton Challenge in Colombo

Prannoy surprised one and all by reaching the final of the 2014 Vietnam Open Grand Prix where he lost to number one seed and tournament favourite Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka of Indonesia.In the very next tournament, the Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold Prannoy went one better, this time beating local favourite Firman Abdul Kholik of Indonesia in straight sets..Prannoy managed to end the year as the third highest ranked Indian at 21.

2015 : HS Prannoy started off the year on a good note reaching the semifinals of the 2015 India Open Grand Prix Gold. He put up a spirited performance in the Semi's before bowing out to India's Srikanth Kidambiin 3 sets. Prannoy's greatest victory came in the Pre-Quarters of 2015 India Super Series when he beat an in form world number 2 Jan Jørgensen in 3 sets. This was probably his best performance so far earning him a lot of praise from all quarters. Prannoy played his heart out in the Quarter Finals too but ultimately Viktor Axelsen proved to be too good for him.

2016 : HS Prannoy started 2016 on a good note by beating the German ace Marc Zwiebler in the finals of the Swiss Open Grand Prix gold by 21-18,21-15

2017 : HS Prannoy plays for the Mumbai Rockets franchise in the 2017 season of the Premier Badminton League. In Indonesian Open in 2017 he defeated Lee Chong Wei, reigning Olympic Silver medalist and Chen Long reigning Olympic Champion in consecutive matches.

Achievements

Boys' Singles

Year                Venue                                   Opponent                                    Result

2016       Multipurpose Hall 
           SAI–SAG Centre, Guwahati,      India Srikanth Kidambi                   Silver Silver

2010       Singapore Indoor Stadium, 
                   Singapore                          Thailand Pisit Poodchalat                Silver Silver

Men's Singles

Year       Tournament                                     Opponent                                  Result

2016       Swiss Open                                  Germany Marc Zwiebler            Winner

2014       Indonesian Masters                  Indonesia Firman Abdul Kholik     Winner

2014       Vietnam Open                  Indonesia Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka  Runner-up

2014       Tata Open India International     India R. M. V. Gurusaidutt            Winner

2013       Tata Open India International     India Sourabh Varma                   Runner-up

2011       Bahrain International                    India Sourabh Varma                 Runner-up

Asia Team Championships

Bronze medal – third place          2016 Hyderabad               Men's team

South Asian Games

Gold medal – first place                2016 Guwahati  Men's team

Silver medal – second place        2016 Guwahati  Men's singles

Youth Olympic Games

Silver medal – second place        2010 Singapore Boys' singles

 Sameer Verma

Current ranking 32 (22 Jun 2017)

Sameer Verma, was born on 22 October 1994. He is an Indian badminton player and trains at the Gopichand Badminton Academy, Hyderabad.Sameer is the brother of Indian badminton player Sourabh Verma and like his brother is supported by the GoSports Foundation, Bangalore and has been part of their scholarship programme since 2012.

Career

2011: Verma won a silver medal in the Asian Junior Badminton Championships, 2011, held in Lucknow, India. He also won silver at the men's singles at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games, Isle of Man losing in the final to Zulfadli Zulkiffli of Malaysia.

2012 :At the 36th Junior National Badminton Championships in Jaipur, Verma won the boys' singles U-19 category.The same year Verma also reached the final of the Iran Open.

2013 :In 2013, Verma won his first international titles when he won the men's singles event at the Bahrain International Series and Bahrain International Challenge.

2014 : Battling injuries in 2012 and 2013, Verma came back strongly in 2014 by winning the All India Senior Ranking Badminton Championships, 2014 in Bareilly.

2016 : Sameer Verma stunned world No 3 Jan O Jorgensen in straight games to storm into the final of the Hong Kong Open Super Series badminton tournament on Saturday 26 November, 2016. Verma upstated the Danish stalwart 21–19, 24–22 in an exciting match.

Achievements

World Junior Championships

Bronze medal – third place          2011 Taipei                       Boys' singles

Asian Junior Championships

Silver medal – second place        2011 Lucknow                 Boys' singles

Bronze medal – third place          2011 Lucknow                 Mixed team

Bronze medal – third place          2012 Gimcheon              Boys' singles

Boys' Singles

Year                  Venue                                             Opponent                      Result

2011       Taoyuan Arena,Chinese Taipei   Denmark Viktor Axelsen           Bronze

2012       Gimcheon Indoor Stadium, 

               Gimcheon, South Korea              Japan Kento Momota               Bronze

2011       Babu Banarasi Das Indoor 

               Stadium, Lucknow, India              Malaysia Zulfadli Zulkiffli          Silver

Men's Singles

Year       Tournament                                             Opponent                           Result

2016       Hong Kong Open                          Hong Kong Ng Ka Long            Runner-up

2017       Syed Modi International                India B. Sai Praneeth                Winner

2015       Tata India International                 India Sourabh Varma                 Winner

2015       Bangladesh International              India B. Sai Praneeth                Runner-up

2015       Bahrain International Challenge    Singapore Derek Wong Zi        Winner

2015       Bahrain International                     India Pratul Joshi                      Winner

2015       Sri Lanka International                  India B. Sai Praneeth                Runner-up

2013       Bahrain International Challenge    India Subhankar Dey                Winner

2013       Bahrain International                 Sri Lanka Dinuka Karunaratna      Winner

2012       Iran Fajr International           Sri Lanka Niluka Karunaratne            Runner-up

     

Sourabha Verma

Current ranking 35 (25 Jun 2017)

Career

Verma was the Indian National Badminton Champion in the senior singles category in 2011. In 2011, Sourabh Verma won his first international title by winning the Bahrain International Challenge. In the same year he was the runner up at 2011 Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold after losing to the former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat.

Sourabh won back-to-back international titles in 2013 and 2014. First of them being 2013 Tata International Challenge held at Mumbai where he defeated Prannoy Kumar.Verma grabbed the next title at 2014 Iran Fajr International Challenge beating Alrie Guna Dharma and the 3rd title in the row was taken by becoming the champion at the 2014 Austrian International Challenge causing an upset to his higher ranked opponent Hsu Jen-hao

Sourabh Verma also finished at 2nd position in a neck to neck match with Simon Santoso at the 2014 Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold. He competed at the 2014 Asian Games. In November 2016, Sourabh lost to Shi Yuqi of China in the final of the Bitburger German Open.

Achievements

Men's Singles

Year       Tournament                                     Opponent                                              Result

2016       Bitburger Open                              China Shi Yuqi                                    Runner-up

2016       Chinese Taipei Masters              Malaysia Liew Daren                             Winner

2014       Malaysia Masters                        Indonesia Simon Santoso                     Runner-up

2016       Polish International                     Denmark Victor Svendsen                     Runner-up

2016       Belgian International                   France Lucas Corvee                            Runner-up

2015       India International                       India Sameer Verma                             Runner-up

2014       Austrian International                  Indonesia Andre Kurniawan Tedjono    Winner

2014       Iran Fajr International                  Indonesia Alrie Guna Dharma              Winner

2013       Tata Open India International      India H.S. Prannoy                                Winner