7 Indian Female Badminton Players who are also the ‘Firsts’!

There are probably thousands of females in India, who just pioneer the Sport of Badminton but here are the 7 of those, Indian Female Badminton Players who have won India Gold!

1. PV Sindhu

Born in Hyderabad, Telangana, PV Sindhu’s full name is Pursarla Ventaka Sindhu.
The coach of this Indian Female Badminton Play is none other than the master himself, Pullela Gopichand.
Amongst her several dozen victories, a few are, she has won a medal in every Badminton World Championship since 2013, except in 2015. In the 2016 Summer Olympics, she became the first Indian Badminton Player to reach the finals, getting India a Silver Medal. In the 2019 Basel World Championships, she won a Gold.

2. Saina Nehwal

Born in Hisar, Haryana, Saina Nehwal’s coach was the same as Sindhu, that is, Pullela Gopichand. She is one of the most influential Indian Female Badminton Players in India.
Along with the Title in the 11 Superseries, she has won more than 24 International Badminton Titles, attaining the World’s No. 1 ranking in 2015, becoming the first and only female Indian Player to achieve so.
There are dozens of other titles that Nehwal has won for India, including the first-ever Indian player to win a medal in BWF Olympics, to reach the BWF World Championships, only Indian to win BWF Junior World Championships, youngest and female Indian to win the 4-star tournament etc.

3. Jwala Gutta

Born in Wardha, Maharashtra, Gutta resides in Telangana.
This girl is exceptional! She has won 316 matches, becoming the only Indian Badminton Player to have done so ever! She reached the ranking of No. 6 in the World with the same.
She is also a 14-time National Champion along with Shruti Kurien. She remained the only Indian player to qualify in two Olympics Events of Badminton (Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles).

4. Ashwini Ponnappa

A Bangalore, Karnataka born, she is another female Badminton Star of India who won her first title in 2004. She has won several medals since then, often pairing with Jwala Gutta.
She along with Gutta, in 2011, won a bronze in BWF World Championships, becoming the first Indian pair to achieve so. and women to win the medal. They won a Gold in the Commonwealth Games.
Till now, Ponnappa has won 6 Golds, 4 Silvers and 6 Bronze and indeed, India is looking forward to more medals from her!

5. Aparna Popat

Her complete name is Aparna Lalji Popat and she belongs to Mumbai, Maharashtra.
She was active between the years 1989 to 2006, after which she retired.
Between the years 1997 to 2006, Aparna won all the Senior National Championships.

6. N. Sikki Reddy

Sikki Reddy Nelakurihi belongs to Telangana and has been coached by Pullela Gopichand.
She plays Mixed and Doubles Matches.
She has won 3 Golds for Indian in South Asian Games in 2016 (Guwahati-Shillong, Mixed Doubles) and 2019 (Kathmandu-Pokhara, Women’s Team), while one more in Commonwealth Games of 2018 Gold Coast.

7. P.C. Thulasi

She was born in Palakkad, Kerala.
She has won 2-Gold Medals for India in the South Asian Games of 2010 and 2016. She won another Gold in the 34th National Games.
She won a Silver in 2010 Women’s Doubles.

The above are only 7 of the many such ladies who each year, one-by-one, fighting hard in the National/International Tournaments of Badminton, are making their Nation Proud.

Blog Edited By Ritika Gupta

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