India: Future threat for ruling countries of badminton world – Badminton Feature
India which is said to have only two religions, cricket and cinema, now badminton is locking the attention of the sports loving nation.
Despite the long badminton history of 150 years, India remained anonymous at international level in modern era of this game but now Indian shuttlers have earned a respectable spot in the arena with some powerful knocks.
They have proved that India is going to challenge the supremacy of prevailing countries like China, Korea, Japan, Denmark, Indonesia and Malaysia in the near future.
Young Indian shuttlers have grown up in shadows of legendry characters Prakash Padukone, Pullela Gopichand, Syed Modi, Uday Pawar, Aparna Popat and Chetan Anand whose international successes pushed India into the forefront.
These youngsters are striving hard to raise country’s flag across the globe and the most promising of these youngsters is the Women’s Singles shuttler Saina Nehwal who has been saving the country’s honour for last five years.
World Number five, Saina has bagged several prestigious titles in her short career and she has become the biggest threat to Chinese supremacy in the Women’s Singles department by sitting at the highest position after the famous “Wang” gang of China.
Indian badminton queen registered her presence in the arena by wearing the Junior World Champion crown in 2008 and then there was no turning back as in same year she landed on the podium during the CommonWealth Youth Games.
The 22-year-old Saina then became the first Indian female to fetch a Super Series title for her country by winning the Indonesia Open. Though, her quest for an Olympic gold medal in Beijing ended in the quarter-finals but she managed to wear one during the
2010 CommonWealth Games.
The National Champion has alarmed the prevailing shuttlers by winning esteemed events like the Swiss Open, India Open, Hong Kong Open and Indonesia Open in recent past.
Other female Singles shuttlers of India, P.V. Sindhu and Aditi Mutatkar are also catching up at a great pace after making some strong bids at the international level.
Meanwhile, in the Men’s Singles department, Parupalli Kashyap, Ajay Jayaram, Sourabh Varma and Anand Pawar are the flag barriers.
World Number 31, P. Kashyap rose to new heights in the 2010 CommonWealth Games and stood on third position at the victory stand while the top Indian shuttler in world rankings Ajay Jayaram has revealed his talent in the 2012 Thomas Cup qualifiers when he
escorted his country to the quarter-finals in Macau.
He currently enjoys the 27th position in world rankings and certainly has the skills to improve his status.
Anand Pawar, son of former legend Uday Pawar, is another talented player that India has produced in recent times. Though he is currently ranked at a low position of 63 but he has proved his mettle in the Dutch International and by winning the 2012 French
International title.
The Women’s Doubles wing of India is represented by the World Number 20 duo Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa who has forged a fruitful chemistry to win the first gold medal for their country in the 2010 CommonWealth Games.
The Women’s Doubles expert Jwala Gutta also joins hands with V. Diju and the duo is ranked 16 in Mixed Doubles.
The partnership of Jwala-V. Diju yielded the best results when they became first Indian pair to hold the Grand Prix title and also lead their country to the World Super Series final in Malaysia.
India may have been an underrated challenger in the past but recent performances by its shuttlers give a strong statement that the country is clearly going to be a future threat for ruling countries of the badminton world.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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