Indian shuttlers have been bringing home medals from the Badminton World Championships without fail since 2011 when the women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa combined to bring home a bronze. That effort ended the country’s excruciating wait that lasted nearly three decades for a medal from the world championships after the legendary Prakash Padukone became the first ever Indian shuttler to win a medal at the event in 1983. However, since Gutta-Ponnappa won the women’s doubles bronze, India have won at least one medal in six straight editions of the event taking their overall tally to 10.
Of these 10, five have been won by superstar PV Sindhu whose record-equaling rich haul includes a gold, two silver and as many bronze. Saina Nehwal (twice) and B Sai Praneeth are the other two medal winners.
Let’s take a look at India’s medals from the world championships so far:
1983 – Prakash Padukone (Bronze)
The legendary India shuttler was in stunning form at the 1983 event in Copenhagen, Denmark. He won four straight matches having dropped just one game en route to the semi-finals. He faced Icuk Sugiarto of Indonesia in the last-four stage and pocketed the first game before losing the next two. Sugiarto would go on to win the title. However, Padukone’s semi-final appearance meant he had ensured himself of at least a bronze and thus became the first from his country to win a medal at the world championships.
2011 – Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa (Bronze)
The 19th edition of the world championships was held in London (England). Gutta and Ponnappa led India’s challenge in the women’s doubles event. The unseeded pair stormed into the third round without dropping a game, outclassing the second-seed Cheng Wen-hsing and Chien Yu-chin in the second round. They dropped the first game in the quarters before winning the next two 21-10, 21-17 to enter last-four. However, they lost to Chinese fifth seeds in the semi-finals but returned home with a bronze – the country’s first ever medal in the women’s doubles event and the first medal in 28 years at the marquee event.
2013 – PV Sindhu (Bronze)
The 10th seed Sindhu got a bye in the first round and faced a stern test against Kaori Imabeppu of Japan in the second round, winning in three closely fought games. She then stunned second seed Wang Yihan in straight games to storm into the quarters and continued her red-hot form to beat seventh seed Wang Shixian to assure herself of at least a bronze. She lost in the semi-final to Ratchanok Inthanon but did create history by becoming India’s first ever medalist at the championships in women’s singles category.
2014 – PV Sindhu (Bronze)
Seeded 11th, Sindhu, again was given a bye in the first round before she started her campaign in style, beating Olga Golovanova of Russia in straight games. However, in the third round and quarterfinals, the Indian was stretched two three games each as she had to come back from a game down before edging past her opponents. She though lost to eventual champion Carolina Marin in the semis but won herself a second straight bronze.
2015 – Saina Nehwal (Silver)
The second seeded Saina crushed Cheung NY of Hong Kong 21-13, 21-9 to begin her campaign in the second round having given a bye in the first. After notching another impressive win to enter the quarters, she faced her first real test against Wang Yihan whom she defeated in three games. She stormed into the final beating Lindaweni Fanetri 21-17, 21-17 but in the title showdown, lost to defending champion Carolina. However, by securing a silver medal, Saina created history by becoming the first ever Indian to do so.
2017 – PV Sindhu (Silver)
Brushing aside the challenge of Kim Hyo-min in the second round, Sindhu continued her superb run with a well-fought win over Cheung Ngan Yi in three games in the third round and then outclassing Sun Yu with a facile 21-14, 21-9 win in the last-eight. In blazing form, Sindhu crushed Chen Yufei before delivering one of the greatest ever performances in the final of the world championships where she suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Nozomi Okuhara – 19-21, 22-20, 20-22.
2017 – Saina Nehwal (Bronze)
Saina entered quarters without dropping a game as she recorded one-sided victories over Sabrina Jacquet and Sung Ji-hyun. Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour gave her a tough fight but the Indian prevailed 21-19, 18-21, 21-15. Hoping for an all-Indian showdown in the finale, she ran into eventual champion Okuhara who defeated the previous edition’s runners-up in three games. Saina though returned home with a bronze – her second medal from the championships.
2018 – PV Sindhu (Silver)
Determined to end her wait for a gold, Sindhu hardly dropped a sweat against Fitriani and Sung Ji-hyun and then exacted revenge over Okuhara in the quarters with a straight games win. In the semi-finals, after easily pocketing the first game 21-16, Sindhu faced a much improved challenge from Akane Yamaguchi who fought hard in the second game but eventually the Indian won 24-22. In the final, Sindhu and Carolina clashed with the Spanish shuttler creating history by becoming first ever women shuttler to win three world titles. However, Sindhu created a history of her won by becoming first Indian to win two silver medals at the championships.
2019 – B Sai Praneeth (Bronze)
The 16th seed Praneeth was in red-hot form at the 2019 championships in Basel. He started his campaign with a routine win over Jason Anthony Ho-shue of Canada before crushing Lee Dong-keun 21-16, 21-15 in the second round. He then stunned sixth seed Anthony Ginting 21-19, 21-13 to enter quarterfinals where he produced another breathtaking performance to knock down fourth seed Jonatan Christie 24-22, 21-14. He then squared off against Kento Momota of Japan in the semis where he finished as the second-best. However, his last-four appearance meant Praneeth became India’s second ever male singles medal winner at the event, ending a wait of 36 years.
2019 – PV Sindhu (Gold)
Two bronze. Two silver. Sindhu had enough. She was determined to end her wait for a yellow metal. And the badminton queen did that in style in Basel producing a memorable show. During the championships, she lost just one game out of five matches – against Tai Tzu-ying in the quarter-finals as she became the first ever Indian to win a gold medal at the badminton world championships. In the title clash, she defeated Nozomi Okuhara in a one-sided clash that ended 21-7, 21-7 in the Indian’s favour.
Comments
0 comment