Prakash Padukone was the first player from India to achieve the world no. 1 spot in the game, after which Srikanth Kidambi became the second male player to make it to the top spot in April 2018.[1]Saina Nehwal was the first female player from India to achieve the world no. 1 spot, which she did in April 2015, and the first Indian badminton player to win a medal at the Olympic Games.[2][3]
P. V. Sindhu is the first Indian to become the World Champion, which she achieved in 2019, and the only badminton player from India to win two consecutive medals at the Olympic Games.[4][5] One of the most successful Indian doubles player is Jwala Gutta, who was the only Indian to have rank in the top 10 of two categories. She peaked at #6 with Valiyaveetil Diju in mixed doubles and at #10 with Ashwini Ponnappa in women's doubles.[6]
Saina Nehwal won the bronze medal in the individual women's competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the first Olympic medal for the country in badminton. P. V. Sindhu won the second and the third Olympic medals in badminton for India, winning a silver and a bronze medal at the
2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics respectively.
India has won several medals at the BWF World Championships as well, with Prakash Padukone winning the first in 1982. The doubles pairing of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa became the first women to win a medal when they won the bronze in 2011.[7]P. V. Sindhu then won consecutive bronze medals at 2013 and 2014 editions, the first Indian player to do so. Saina Nehwal won a first-ever silver at the 2015 Championships, and then a bronze in 2017.[8]P. V. Sindhu won silver in consecutive editions in 2017 and 2018. Sindhu then went on to win the gold at the 2019 BWF World Championships and become the first Indian to ever finish on top of the podium. At the same edition, B. Sai Praneeth medalled in the men's singles after 36 years, clinching the bronze. As a result, for the first time, India won medals in two different disciplines in the same BWF World Championships edition. In 2021, Lakshya Sen won the bronze medal in men's singles while Srikanth Kidambi won the silver, the first time India had two medallists in the same edition in the men's singles discipline. In 2022, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won India's first World Championship medal in the men's doubles, a bronze. Till date, India has never returned empty handed from the World Championships since 2011.
,_during_the_medal_presentation_ceremony,_at_Siri_Fort_Complex,_in_New_Delhi_on_October_08,_2010.jpg)
