Neha Pandit

Pune girl, Neha Pandit, is one of the very talented badminton players from India, and is one of the top 10 women badminton players in India, based on the BWF World badminton rankings. She currently trains at the Prakash Padukone badminton academy in Bangalore.

Fact File:

Neha was born on: 9-Jul-1987
Neha Pandit hails from: Pune
Her current World Ranking is: 177

Notable Achievements:

2007:  Neha Pandit was the runner-up at the National games.

2008:
Neha was the runner-up at the Tata Open badminton tournament
She also had an impressive run at the Spanish Open where she was the runner-up.

2009:
She was the runner-up for the second time at the Tata Open badminton tournament.
Neha was a quarter-finalist at the Australian Grand Prix badminton tournament, as also at the Thailand Challenger and Toulouse Open tournament at France.

Blog of Aditi Mutatkar - My Life My Way!!!



Aditi Mutatkar

 Aditi Mutatkar is well known as a badminton player. She also loves to write whenever she finds the time. Her blog is http://aditimutatkar.blogspot.com/

Aditi is an excellent blogger who has a very free flowing style of writing, and writes straight from her heart, so to say. Her blog is aptly titled "My Life, my way!!!"

Here are some of my favorite articles that Aditi Mutatkar has written on her blog.

http://aditimutatkar.blogspot.com/2011/01/national-champion.html
This was written by her on her blog after she clinched the Senior National Badminton title this year.

http://aditimutatkar.blogspot.com/2010/12/life-and-lessons-it-teaches-me.html
This is one of my favorite articles from her blog, where Aditi thinks aloud about what constitutes greatness, and lessons taken from life.

Related Articles:

Aditi Mutakar - View Profile
Interview with Aditi Mutatkar

Senior Ranking tournament at Atul, Gujarat

Badminton Association of India will be conducting the All India Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament, at Atul, Gujarat from 31-Jan to 4-Feb-2011.
The seedings for this badminton tournament are as below:

Mens Singles
1 Varma Saurabh
2 B. Sai Praneeth
3 H. S. Prannoy
4 K. Nanda Gopal
5 B. Sumeeth Reddy
6 Joshi Pratul
7 Kamat Mohit
8 Kapoor Saurav

Mens Doubles
1 Dewalkar Akshay & Vishnu Arun
2 Vijay Ram C. & S. Sunjith
3 Naqvi Eshan & Attri Manu
4 K. Nanda Gopal & B. Sai Praneeth

Womens Singles
1 Pandit Neha
2 P. C. Thulasi
3 P V Sindhu
4 Gokhale Sayali
5 Ohlan Anita
6 Nair Dhanya
7 Sahasrabuddhe Sampada
8 Sahdev Mohita

Womens Doubles
1 Balan Aparna & Sawant Prajakta
2 P Jyotsna & P V Sindhu

Mixed Doubles
1 Balan Aparna & Vishnu Arun
2 P Jyotsna & Develkar Akshay

The participant list is as below:
Abantika, Deka
Abdul, Bari
Abhinav, Manota
Abhinav, Prakash
Abhindya, Sawant
Abhishek, Yeligar
Aditya Elango, A.
Aditya, Gaikwad
Aditya, Mehta
Aditya, Prakash
Ahmed, Qamar
Ajay Kumar, K.
Ajay, Dayal
Ajay, Yadav
Ajit, Wijetilekk
Akshay, Develkar
Akshit, Mahajan
Alwin, Francis
Aman Singh, Bishen
Amey, Joshi
Amit, Kshatriya
Amit, Sharma
Amrita, Mukherjee
Anand, Parmar
Anil Kumar Raju, M
Anirban, Chetia
Anita, Ohlan
Anjali, Kalita
Ankur Sangpam, Rai
Ankush, Joshi
Anshuman, Hazarika
Anthony, Jacob
Aparna, Balan
Archana, S
Arjun Reddy, M
Arun Kumar, P
Arun, Vishnu
Arundhati, Pantawane
Arup, Baidya
Ashish, Sharma
Ashish, Sharma
Ashutosh, Tiwari
Barnali, Raha
Bennet, Antony
Bhabora, Suranjan
Bhuwan, Sethi
Chetan Anand, B.
Chitra, Lekha
D B, Thappa
Datul, Chauhan
Daya Elsa, Jacob
Deepak, Khatri
Deepak, Negi
Dhanya, Nair
Dharmendra, Nishad
Dinesh, Choudhary
Dinesh, T
Eshan, Naqvi
Gagan, Sharma
Garima, Yadav
Gauranshu, Chopra
Gaurav, Pahwa
Gaurav, Parmar
Girishma, Anand
Guru Sai Dutt, R. M. V.
Harender, Malik
Harsen, K S
Harshal, Soni
Hemanagendra Babu, T.
Hemant, Patel
Himanshu, Kharbanda
Himanshu, Verma
Indu, Saraswat
Jagadish K, Yadav
Jagadish, Yadav
Jagriti, Nashier
Jaimin, Dethariya
Jayesh, Gadkari
Joy T., Antony
Jui, Agaskar
Jyothi Swarupa, V.
Jyotsna, P
Kapil, Dinesh
Karthikey, K
Kashish, Anand
Kashyap, P.
Kaushik, Pal
Kiran Kumar, B.
Kirtesh, Singh
Kristi, Das
Krupali, Karani
Linymol, P. S.
Love, Kumar
Manikandan, M R
Manish, Gupta
Manish, Rawat
Manjush Mohan, K. K.
Manu, Attri
Mayank, Behal
Mayank, Gole
Meenakshi, Nair
Megha Merin, Ninan
Mehul, Solanki
Mohit, Kamat
Mohit, Khatri
Mohita, Sahdev
Mohsin, Sumra
Nagendra, Tiwari
Nanda Gopal, K.
Neha, Pandit
Neha, Singh
Nigel, D'Sa
Niharika, Saini
Nikhilesh, Sarma
Nithin, R
Nitin, Mahiwal
Nripendra, Singh
Oscar, Bansal
P.Vijay Kumar, Reddy
P.Vinay Kumar, Reddy
Pankaj, Naithani
Parsa, Naqvi
Pawan, Malik
Prabhu Desai, Sonic
Prajakta, Sawant
Prakash Jolly, K.
Pranav, Chopra
Prannoy, H. S.
Prasad, Shetty
Prashant, Bhatare
Pratik, Patel
Pratul, Joshi
Prem Singh, Chouhan
Prince, Chaturvedi
Priyadarshini, B Deepthi
Priyana, Patel
Pulkit, Rathi
Rajnikant, Prajapati
Ram C., Vijay
Ravi Kant, Singla
Ravinder, Singh
Reddy, N.Sikki
Riddhi, Pajwani
Rini, Tandel
Rishiket, Yeligar
Riya, Pillai
Rohit Yadav, C
Rohit, Bhaker
Rohit, More
Rohit, Raturi
Rucha, Nikam
Saarang, Lakhanee
Sachin, Ratti
Sachin, Rawat
Sai Praneeth, B.
Saloni, Yadav
Sameer, Verma
Samir, Abbasi
Sampada, Sahasrabuddhe
Sandeep, Kumar
Sanket, Shirbhate
Satinder, Malik
Satish Kumar, Lodhi
Saurabh, Varma
Saurav, Kapoor
Sayali, Gokhale
Sazia, Khan
Shambhavi, Bajaj
Sharda Govardhani, J.
Shashidhar, C.M.
Shivam, Sharma
Shradha, Srivastava
Shrishail, Mitkari
Sidharth
Sindhu, P V
Singh, Kamaldeep
Srikanth, K.
Srujan, N.
Subhankar, Dey
Sudhanshu, Teotia
Sumeeth Reddy, B.
Sunil Nag, Srinivasan
Sunjith, S.
Suraj, P. H.
Swati, Joon
T S, Bisht
T.K., Jamsheed
Tanishaq, K
Tanveer, Gill
Tarun, K.
Teja, Sree
Tejas, Shah
Thomas, Kurian
Thomas, Tom
Thulasi, P. C.
Trupti, Murgunde
Ujjwal, Bahugunna
Uttam, Choubey
Velvan, V
Venkat, Gaurav
Venkatesh, Prasad
Venu Madhav, M
Vijay, Namdeo
Vijay, Rana
Vijeta, Bhargava
Vijetha, N V S
Vikram Singh, Sekhawat
Vikram, Saini
Vineet, Manuel
Vipul, Saini
Wazalwar, Mitesh
Yamini, Sharma
Yuvraj, Shinde

The reference source for the below information is tournamentsoftware.com and this list is tentative. For example, I was having a word with Arundhati Pantawane yesterday, and she said she is still in Sweden & has withdrawn her name from this tourney.
.

Jwala-Ashwini out of Korea Open Super Series

The Indian womens doubles badminton pair of Jwala Gutta & Ashwini Ponnappa bowed out yesterday from the Victor Korea Open Super Series premier tournament.

The Indian pair lost to 8th seeds, Qing Tian & Yunlei Zhao of China who defeated them by a score of 21-16, 21-15.

Nonetheless Jwala & Ashwini's performance in this tournament was good, as they had earlier defeated world no.23 pair of Tsz Ka Chan & Hoi Wah Chau in the first round, and then teamed up to win against world no.11 Japanese pair of Mizukii Fujii & Reika Kakiiwa in the second round.

The Chinese player Qing Tian turned out to be Jwala Gutta's nemesis in this tournament, as Qing Tian had also earlier paired with Tao Jiaming (6th seeds) in the mixed doubles to put to an end Jwala & V.Diju's fine run in this tournament.

The world ranking for both the Indian pairs, Jwala-Diju & Jwala-Ashwini, would likely improve with their showing in this tournament.

Saina suffers shock defeat

Setback for Saina

Saina Nehwal, ranked 4th in the world, suffered a shock defeat today at the ongoing Korea Open Super Series badminton tournament when she was defeated by world.no. 28 Sayaka Sato of Japan in a 3-set match. Sayaka Sato defeated Saina Nehwal 17-21, 21-19, 21-11

Saina & Sato had earlier played against each other in the Indonesia Open Super series last year, when Saina had won in 3 sets. However, Sato got the better of Saina today, to level her personal score against Saina at 1-1.

P Kashyap loses against Gade

In an earlier match of the day, P.Kashyap was pitted against the 3rd seed and world.no.5 Peter Gade of Denmark. Gade won the match 21-16, 21-13.

Jwala-Diju out of reckoning

Jwala-Diju were stopped dead in their tracks by the 6th seeded Chinese mixed doubles pair of Tao Jiaming & Qing Tian. The Chinese pair defeated Jwala-Diju by a score of 21-16, 21-13

Jwala-Ashwini advance

The only match today that provided a winning result for India, was Jwala Gutta & Ashwini Ponnappa winning their 2nd round women's doubles match to progress further to the quarterfinals.
Jwala-Ashwini defeated Japanese combine of Mizuki Fuji & Reika Kakiiwa, 21-18, 14-21, 21-15

An Interview with Arundhati Pantawane

Arundhati Pantawane, is one of India's best upcoming badminton players. She emerged a surprise runner-up at this year's National championships that was held at Rohtak, in Haryana, and then followed this up with another great Silver medal winning performance at the Estonian International tournament.


I recently had the pleasure of having a chat with her, that was followed by an interview.
Here's what she has to say.


Hi Arundhati, please tell us more about your family background. And how did you happen to turn from athletics to badminton?


Arundhati Pantawane

Arundhati Pantawane said:
Well, my father is an athletics coach and my mother was also an athlete, so I used to do athletics, the 100m and 200m. As a kid, I also used to go with my father to play badminton. Then slowly I started to develop more interest in badminton, then I joined some coaching camps back in Nagpur, and then started entering into competitions.


Then one day it so happened that both my athletics finals and my badminton finals were on the same date and time. My parents decided that I should opt for the badminton match, and so I left my athletics finals and went in for badminton. And I lost that badminton final match, whereas if I would have ran my 100 m. finals, I could have easily won it. But still we continued with the badminton. And because of that one decision I am here.


Being a Nagpur girl, has the road to success been tougher than others? Does Nagpur have as many badminton facilities as in Mumbai or Pune?


Arundhati Pantawane :
Well, being a nagpur girl, yes, there was a struggle. but I never thought of it that way. Actually I was quite small at that time and I never used to understand that why its always me… but we (me and my parents) were like, its ok, and it happens to every sports person. So we didn’t care about the people, we just worked hard and hard.


And Nagpur does have badminton facilities, though they are not really as good as those available in Mumbai or Pune. I used to go to Subhedar hall from 5 to 7 pm. And we used to have only 2 courts for the first hour, and then only one court for next one hour, and there were 20 students playing at the same time. I never used to get to play more than 15 min. on court. But then I used to do lots of physical training, which is helping me a lot now.
Later on, I joined the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad, and now I have been training there since the last 4 years.


And, how did this playing as a professional, for the Stockholm based Taby club come about?
Arundhati Pantawane :
Well, one day Atik Jauhari, the Indonesian coach who was also our national coach, gave me this offer. He had been coaching in Sweden before getting into the contract with India, and my club owner Kent Kotte is good friend of him. So he asked me and I was ready to accept the contract for a year. This is how I got this contract, because of Atik Sir.

And how has been your experience of playing in the Club circuit at Sweden? Is there any difference between the work culture of club circuit badminton players in Sweden and those in India?

Arundhati Pantawane :

Well, its great here. Everyone was excited when I came here. And then I started playing good, started winning matches for the club, and all the team members and the coaches were happy. Its really fun being with them. I have developed a good rapport with the players and the coaches and the people over here. They are really very nice. And they are always asking me about the Indian culture.


As far as badminton is concerned, there is a difference between the playing strength in India and in Sweden. Our Indian players standard is quite high compared to the Swedish players.


You did not play any international matches in 2010. Was there any particular reason for this?
Arundhati Pantawane :
No particular reason for this, actually. At the start of the year I was not at all in form. I was in very bad form, in fact. So, then I just concentrated on my practice at the start of the year, and then later on I played in Bangalore, started performing well, then came to Sweden and started playing tournaments here. 


Then played in the Asian Games. Then again it was back to Sweden, so its almost been travel travel and travel this whole year. First I wanted to get into good ranking in India, and then try for Internationals, that was my aim.


You almost clinched the National title this year. And now this Silver medal at the Estonian open. What is the reason for this sudden success?
Arundhati Pantawane :
Actually, in the Nationals I didn’t expect that I will be playing the finals. Frankly, I was expecting to reach till quarters and semis. Well, whatever the result was I am satisfied. Even in the Estonian Open, it was quite unexpected.


There is no reason as such behind this success. Whenever I go on court, I just try to give my best, and try to do all those things which I have learnt from my coach.


How did it feel like playing in the finals of the Nationals? What was your game plan against Aditi?
Arundhati Pantawane :
Well, as I told you, being in the finals was quite unexpected. It felt great. But really felt bad after losing the match, but never minded it, coz I have lot more to go. And I can only say to myself, Better LUCK next time..!!!
And there was no game plan as such against Aditi. I had already beaten her up in team events. So I was pretty confident, my body was good, everything was ok. But in the 3^rd game she played very patiently and I was all in a hurry. May be this is one of the reasons, that I lost the match. Well, there is always a next time.


Who are your favorite badminton players, from India & outside of India?
Arundhati Pantawane : I have only one favorite and that’s my coach P.Gopichand. I like his attitude, his personality. His game…. I want to become like him.

And, what are the goals that you have set for yourself for 2011?

Arundhati Pantawane : My goal in 2011 is to get good International ranking by the year end.

Thanks a lot for your time, Arundhati, and wish you all the very best for the future.
Hope you earn lots of success!

Related Links:

Arundhati Pantawane - Profile

Korea Super-series: Great day for Jwala Gutta, Saina advances after struggle

Victor Korea Open Super Series Premier 2011 badminton tournament updates:

Jwala-Diju outclass world no.7 pair. Move to second round.

The Indian mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta & V.Diju, had a great outing today against the world No.7 England badminton pair of Nathan Robertson & Jenny Wallwork.

Jwala-Diju defeated Nathan-Jenny in a close match by a score of 21-19, 21-18 and have now advanced to the 2nd round, and they are now up against the Chinese pair of Tao Jaiming & Qing Tian, who are ranked 23rd in the world.

Jwala-Ashwini advance to second round.

Playing in her second match of the day, Jwala Gutta combined with her womens' doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa to deliver a sterling performance in a tough match against the higher ranked Hong Kong pair of Tsz Ka Chan & Hoi Wah Chau.

In the nail-biting finish, Jwala-Ashwini prevailed by a score of 18-21, 22-20, 22-20.
Jwala-Ashwini will be playing Japanese pair of Mizuki Fujii & Reika Kakiiwa in the second round of this super-series badminton event.

Saina advances to next round after struggle

Saina Nehwal had to struggle to get past world no.21 Tzu Ying Tai of the Chinese Taipei, and won the close match by a very narrow margin. Saina won the match 19-21, 21-14, 22-20.

P Kashyap defeated Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk later in the day, by a score of 21-17, 21-9 to advance to the second round.

Gayatri Vartak

Gayatri Vartak took to badminton at the age of 12, when she started practising at the PDMBA (Pune District Metropolitan Badminton Association). Gayatri also had a keen interest in swimming, and was a national level swimmer in her school days.


Gayatri Vartak


Gayatri Vartak started her badminton training in the WIE Complex of Pune under Ashwin Humnabadkar and then moved on to Bangalore to the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy where she has been practicing under the guidance of eminent coaches Hemant Hardikar, Vimal Kumar & Prakash Padukone. Gayatri devotes around 6 hours everyday for badminton practice.

Fact File:

Gayatri was born on: 20-Oct-1988
Gayatri is from: Pune
She studied at: St.Joseph's school, Pashan & then at Jog School.
College education: BCom from BMCC & currently pursuing Masters in Psychology.
Gayatri's current world ranking is: 201




Notable Achievements:

2007:
Gayatri was a Quarter-finalist at the Senior National Badminton championships in Goa.

She was a semi-finalist at the All-India Senior Ranking tournament at Pune & at the Canara bank All-India
Senior ranking tournament at Bangalore.

Gayatri reached the semi-finals of the Welsh Open International badminton tournament in Cardiff. In the
semis, Gayatri lost to the eventual winner and world no. 53 Gill Pittard of England 16-21,9-21

2010:
Gayatri Vartak represented India at the Uber Cup preliminaries in Thailand.
Gayatri was a semi-finalist at the Senior Nationals at Guwahati.

Swedish consolation for Aditi, Arundhati

The Swedish final results in the women's singles are out, and it is important to note these Swedish Open final results in the context of Aditi & Arundhati's loss in the first round of the tournament.

Both the Japanese players who defeated Arundhati Pantawane & Aditi Mutatkar, reached the finals of the event, with Aditi's victor Kaori finally taking away the Swedish Open Gold medal, and Arundhati's victor Mayu Sekiya going home with the Silver medal. So, some consolation for the Indian girls. At least they did not go down to unworthy opponents.

Kaori's run-up to the finals
Kaori Imabeppu [JPN]   - [IND]  Aditi Mutatkar  21-19 22-20
Kaori Imabeppu [JPN]   - [FRA]  Sashina Vignes Waran [7]  21-18 21-18
Kaori Imabeppu [JPN]   - [ESP]  Carolina Marin  19-21 21-16 21-8
Kaori Imabeppu [JPN]   - [JPN]  Minatsu Mitani  21-14 12-21 21-16

Mayu's run-up to the finals
Mayu Sekiya [JPN]   - [IND]  Arundhati Pantawane  21-7 22-20
Mayu Sekiya [JPN]   - [NED]  Judith Meulendijks [1]  14-21 21-19 21-16
Mayu Sekiya [JPN]   - [SCO]  Susan Egelstaff [3]  21-6 21-15
Mayu Sekiya [JPN]   - [EST]  Karoliine Hoim  21-11 24-22

Finals
Kaori Imabeppu [JPN]  - [JPN]  Mayu Sekiya  13-21 22-20 21-16

.

P.C. Thulasi

Kerala girl P.C. Thulasi, is one of the best upcoming badminton talents in India. She is just 19-years old, and is already challenging the best badminton players in the country. She trains at the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.

P.C. Thulasi

Fact File:

Thulasi was born on: 31-Aug-1991
She is from: Pallakad, Kerala
Her current World Ranking is: 172

Notable Achievements:

2008:
Thulasi won the National junior girls doubles title partnering N Sikki Reddy.
Thulasi went on the win the Gold medal in the doubles event of the Commonwealth Youth Games.
Thulasi won the bronze medal at the Junior World Badminton Championships in the team event.

2009:
Thulasi was the womens doubles winner at the Smiling Fish international Series badminton tournament.
Thulasi partnered with N Sikki Reddy again to win the National junior girls doubles title for the second time.

2010:
P.C.Thulasi won her first senior singles title when she won the Tata Open International badminton challenge tournament at Mumbai. She defeated top seed Fransiska Ratnasari of Indonesia 21-15, 21-13 in the finals.

P.V. Sindhu

15-year old, P.V.Sindhu (Pusarla Venkat Sindhu) is one of the best upcoming badminton talents from India. She trains at the P.Gopichand badminton academy in Hyderabad. Sindhu is supported by the Olympic Gold Quest.


P.V. Sindhu - Rising Indian Badminton Star


Sindhu's parents are both former Volleyball players, her father PV Ramana being an Asian Games bronze medallist, and winner of the Arjuna award in the year 2000. Given such a background it was no surprise that Sindhu got interested in sports at a very young age.

Inspired by the badminton exploits of Gopichand, Sindhu started playing badminton at the age of 8. The first national title came her way, when she won the under-10 championship at Kochi and since then winning has become a habit for her.

She is considered by many badminton experts to be one of the most promising players for the future, who can emulate the success of Saina Nehwal.

Fact File:
Sindhu was born on: 5-Jul-1995

She is from: Hyderabad

Her current world ranking is: 151

Notable Achievements:

2009:

• Sindhu won a bronze medal at the Asian Junior championship.

2010:

• Sindhu won a Silver medal at the Iran Fajr international challenge badminton tournament.
• Sindhu was a quarterfinalist at the World Junior badminton championship that was held at Malaysia.
•  15-year old, Sindhu won the Under-19 National Juniors championship in 2010, and did not drop even a single set in the entire tournament.
•  P.V.Sindhu won a bronze medal at the India Open Grand Prix tournament at Hyderabad.

2011:

• PV Sindhu won the National Senior Ranking badminton tournament held at Atul in Gujarat.

  .

R.M.V. Guru Sai Dutt

Guru Sai Dutt is one of India's rising badminton talents. He became interested in badminton when he went for a summer camp at the LB stadium in Hyderabad at the age of 10. He took up badminton as a sport after getting inspired watching P.Gopichand play at a local stadium.

He then went on to further develop his badminton skills at the Pullela Gopichand badminton academy in Hyderabad. Guru is one of the most promising badminton players for the future and is now supported by the OGQ (Olympic Gold Quest) foundation.

Guru Sai Dutt


Fact File:

Guru Sai Dutt was born on: 1-Mar-1990
He is from: Hyderabad, India.
His current world ranking is: 57

Notable Achievements:

2005:
Guru Sai Dutt won the national sub-juniors doubles title.

2008:
Guru Sai Dutt won a bronze medal at the BWF World junior championships held at Pune.

Guru Sai Datt won the Gold medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games at Pune, defeating Aditya Prakash of India, 21-18, 20-22, 21-18

He also won the Dutch junior international badminton tournament held at Harlem, in the same year.

After winning the Dutch junior, R.M.V. Guru Sai Dutt went on to win his maiden men’s singles title defeating Andy Sabutro of Indonesia 21-13, 22-20 in the final of the Bahrain International Challenge badminton championship in Bahrain.

2010:
Guru Sai Dutt created a big upset by defeating former All-England champion Muhammad Hafiz Hashim to reach the semi-finals of the Yonex Sunrise India Open Grand Prix Gold badminton championships.

Guru represented India at the South Asian games & won a silver medal in the singles category & a gold medal in the team event.


.

Ajay Jayaram

Ajay Jayaram is one of the best upcoming badminton players in India. He trains at the Tata Padukone badminton academy in Bangalore. He is currently ranked 34 in the world.

Ajay Jayaram

(photo source - badmintonindia.org)


Fact File:

Ajay was born on: 28-Sep-1987
Ajay is from: Chennai
His current world ranking is: 34

Notable Achievements:

2008:
Ajay Jayaram won his maiden international title when he won the Waikato International tournament at Hamilton in New Zealand, defeating Prakash Jolly of India 21-11, 21-14 in the finals.

2010:
Ajay Jayaram won the Smiling Fish international badminton championship at Thailand. He beat Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin of Indonesia in the finals.

Ajay was the winner of the Yonex Czech Open International badminton tournament. Ajay beat Scott Evans of Ireland 21-11, 21-8 in the finals

Ajay Jayaram won the Silver medal at the Yonex Dutch Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament held at Almere.

Sayali Gokhale

Sayali has been coached by Anil Modak at the PPBA (Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy) feeder centre at Pune, that started in Jul-1999. She won the National badminton championship title in 2009, and is currently ranked 100 in the world, as per the BWF badminton world rankings.

Sayali Gokhale

Fact File:

Sayali was born on: 1-Feb-1987
She is from: Pune
She is currently employed with: Air-India
Her current world ranking is: 100

Notable Achievements:

2008:
Sayali Gokhale won the Syria Open International badminton championship.

2009:
Sayali Gokhale became the National Badminton champion in the women's singles when she defeated
at Indore.

Later the same year, Sayali Gokhale won the Spanish Open title at Madrid, defeating Lianne Tan of Belgium 21-9, 21-18 in 23 minutes.

2010:
Sayali won the Tata Open Badminton tournament defeating Neha Pandit in the finals. (Before this match Sayali prevailed over Trupti Murgunde in the semi-finals in a marathon 70-minute effort)

Trupti Murgunde

Trupti Murgunde is one of the best badminton players from India in the womens' singles event. Trupti was born in Pune, and later shifted to Bangalore to hone her badminton skills at the Tata Padukone badminton academy. Trupti became the National Badminton champion in 2009. Her current world ranking is 90.

Trupti Murgunde

Fact File:

Trupti was born on: June 3
She hails from: Pune
She lives in: Bangalore
She studied at: B.M.C.C. Pune.
Her current world ranking is: 90

Recent Notable Achievements:

2009:
Trupti Murgunde won the Yonex Czech Open International title at Brno is Czech Republic when she defeated Jeanine Cicognini of Switzerland 21-17, 21-12.

Trupti Murgunde won the NPL All-India ranking badminton championship at the KBA court stadiums in Bangalore defeating P.C.Thulasi 18-21, 21-8, 21-11 in 61 minutes.

2010:
Trupti Murgunde clinched the National Badminton Championship women's singles title for the first time, at Guwahati, defeating the defending champion Sayali Gokhale of Pune, 21-17, 21-7
(The highlight of the event at Guwahati was that all the 4 woman shuttlers who reached the semifinals, Aditi Mutatkar, Gayatri Vartak, Sayali Gokhale & Trupti Murgunde, were from Pune)

Korea Premier Super Series from 25-30 Jan

The second super series event of this year, the Victor Korea Badminton Premier Super Series will be played at Seoul, Korea from 25th-30th Jan-2011

This is the first year when the Super Series events have been categorized as the Super Series & the Super Series premier events, the latter offering greater prize money to the players. The Victor Korea tournament will be having a total purse of $12,00,000.

India's top hope Saina Nehwal is seeded 4th in the women's singles and is slated to play against Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the first round. The top 3 seeds are the 3 Wang's from China, Wang Xin(1), Wang Shixian(2) and Wang Yihan(3).

In the mens' singles P Kashyap is part of the main draw & he will be playing against Tanongsak Saensomboonsok of Thailand in the first round.

In the womens' doubles the Indian pair of Jwala Gutta & Ashwini Ponnappa will be playing against Chan Tsz Ka & Chao Hoi Wah of Hong Kong in the first round.

In the mixed doubles, Jwala Gutta & V.Diju face the challenge of Nathan Robertson & Jenny Wallwork of England in the first round.



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Arvind Bhat

Arvind Bhat is one of the best badminton players in India, and also the reigning National Badminton champion. He is currently ranked 46 in the world as per the BWF badminton rankings. Arvind honed his badminton skills at the Prakash Padukone badminton academy in Bangalore.

Arvind Bhat - Indian Badminton player

Fact File:

Arvind is from: Bangalore
Currently employed with: PSCB
His current world ranking is: 46

Notable achievements:

Nov-2004:
Arvind Bhat won the men's singles title at the Scottish Open badminton tournament defeating the 3rd seeded Marc Zwiebler of Germany 15-8, 15-7.

2005:
Arvind won the All-India senior ranking tournament.

2007:
Arvind Bhat won the New Caledonia Open badminton tournament with an upset win over world.no.48 Pablo Abian of Spain
Arvind also then won the Czech Open International tournament.
Arvind Bhat won the Syrian Satellite series badminton tournament at Damascus.
Arvind Bhat won the Jordan Open badminton tournament at Amman.

2008:
Arvind won the Tata Open senior ranking badminton tournament.

Feb-2009
Arvind Bhat won the National badminton title for the first time in Indore in Feb-2009, when he had defeated P Kashyap 21-19, 21-14 in the finals.

Jan-2011
Arvind Bhat defeated P Kashyap in the finals of the Mens singles National Badminton title match to be crowned the National Badminton Champion for the second time in his badminton career.

Aparna Popat

Aparna Popat is one of the best known former badminton players of India. She holds the amazing record of winning the Indian National badminton 8 times in a row. (Earlier Madhumita Bisht (Madhumita Goswami) had the distinction of having won the National Badminton championships 7 times in a row).

Aparna Popat

Aparna started playing badminton at the CCI (Cricket Club of India) courts in Mumbai, at the age of 8. Anil Pradhan (former National doubles champion) who was the badminton coach at CCI, saw her talent & encouraged her to take up badminton seriously.

Anil Pradhan coached her for 8 years, till she shifted base & moved on to Bangalore to train at the Prakash Padukone badminton academy for the next 7 years. She then further moved on to the SAI center to train under coach Ganguly Prasad who also helped shape P. Gopichand's career.

Aparna Popat won the National Junior badminton title first in 1989, and there was no looking back after that. She bagged her first Senior National title when she defeated Manjusha Kanwar (Manjusha Pawangadkar) at Pune in 1998. This title win then became an yearly routine that carried on for 8 years at a stretch.

Fact File:

Aparna Popat was born on: January 18, 1978
She hails from: Mumbai, India
Employed with: IOC

Notable Achievements:

Aparna won the National Badminton championship title 8 times in a row.

Aparna won the Silver medal at the World Junior Badminton championships that was held in Denmark in 1996.

She bagged the Silver medal at the Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lampur in 1998, and was also the French Open winner the same year. It was also in 1998 that she won the senior National title for the first time.

Aparna was ranked 16 in the world, in 1999.
She won a Bronze medal at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002
Aparna also represented India at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 & the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Chetan Anand

Chetan Anand is one of India's most famous badminton players. Chetan has dominated the Indian national badminton scene for quite some time, and even now after the emergence of other stars like P.Kashyap, he is still considered to be one of the best players in the country today.

Chetan Anand's father Harshavardhan was also an active badminton player who used to participate in the annual Inter-Lecturers tournaments, so not surprisingly Chetan also took to badminton at an early age. Chetan's career received a boost, when at the behest of Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone, Chetan went to the World Academy camp at Kuala Lampur to hone his skills.

Chetan Anand

Chetan Anand Fact File:

Chetan was born on: July 8, 1980
Chetan's birthplace: Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
Chetan is employed with: ONGC
Current World Ranking: 37
Winner of: Arjuna Award for Sporting excellence







Notable Achievements:

1999: Chetan became the National Junior Badminton Champion of India.
2002: Gold medal at the National Games in India

2003: Chetan became the National Badminton Champion, won the Syed Modi Memorial tournament, as well as the Canara Bank Ranking tournament.

2004: Winner at International Open tournament in France.
2005: Chetan won the Irish & the Welsh Open international tournaments.

2007: Chetan Anand became India's National Badminton Champion when he defeated Anand Pawar in the finals of the competition that was held at Patna. Chetan also won the Cyprus international badminton tournament the same year.

2008: Chetan Anand won the Bitburger Open Grand Prix title. Winner of the Gold medal at Kenya International tournament, the Spanish & Nepal international tournaments and the Yonex Czech Open International tournament.

2009: Chetan went on to win the Dutch Open, and the Syed Modi Memorial tournament.

Saina Nehwal Profile

Saina Nehwal is the best badminton player that India has had in a long time. She is currently ranked no.3 in the world, as per the latest BWF badminton world rankings.

Her impressive badminton profile, has inspired thousands of young children in India to take up the sport, and given her the status of a youth icon nick-named 'Super Saina'.

Saina Nehwal Profile - Bio:

Birthdate: 17 March 1990
Saina hails from: Haryana, India
Current Badminton World Ranking: 3 (as on 20-Apr-2011)
Winner of: Arjuna Award in 2009, and Khel Ratna award in 2010

Profile of Saina's Achievements:

2003: Saina Nehwal won the Gold medal at the Czechoslovakia Junior Open.
2004: Won the Silver medal winner at the Commonwealth Youth Games.
2005: Was the winner of the Asian Satellite badminton tournament.

2006: She won the Philippines Open badminton tournament, a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, and the Asian Satellite badminton tournament for the second time.

2007: Became the Indian National Badminton champion.

2008:
Saina won the Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold tournament, a Gold medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games and most notably the Gold medal at the World Junior Badminton championship in the Girls' Singles category event.
The same year, she also emerged as a surprise Quarter-finalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

2009: Saina was a quarterfinalist at the BWF World championship, winner of the Indonesia Super Series title, as also the winner of Indian Open Grand Prix tournament.

2010:
This was one of the best years of Saina's badminton career. She won 3 Super Series tournaments, the Singapore Open, the Indonesia Open, and the super series at Hong Kong one after the another.
The same year she won the India Open Grand Prix Gold, and she was once again was a quarterfinalist at the BWF World championships.
Nehwal ended the year with a splendid performance winning the individual Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, that also helped India achieve the 2nd position in the Commonwealth medals final tally.


Related Articles:

Profiles of other Indian Badminton Players


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Aditi, Arundhati crash out of Swedish open

In a disappointing day for Indian badminton fans, both Aditi Mutatkar & Arundhati Pantawane of India unexpectedly crashed out in the first round of the main draw itself, at the Swedish Open badminton tournament today.

Mayu Sekiya (world ranking 152) of Japan first defeated Arundhati Pantawane 21-7, 22-20, and some time later it was Kaori Imabeppu (world ranking 87) also of Japan, who defeated Aditi Mutatkar 21-19, 22-20

To go all the way to Sweden & lose in the first round... Must be very disappointing for the players, as also for indian badminton fans, and bad for the growth of badminton in India in general...

The only silver lining was the matches were very close, and the girls did not go down without fighting... apart from this not much to talk about of this day...

Swedish Open: Arundhati wins qualifying rounds

Arundhati Pantawane

Arundhati Pantawane eased her way into the main draw of the Swedish Open badminton tournament notching comfortable wins in the first 2 qualifying rounds.

Her first match against local girl Sofie Werner of Sweden, was one of the shortest matches of the day. It lasted only for 17 minutes as Arundhati cruised to a comfortable 21-8, 21-9 victory.
 
Arundhati's second match did not last much longer either. She defeated Kim Buss of Germany, 21-15 21-11 in just 21 minutes.

 

Aditi Mutatkar

With these two wins in the qualifying rounds, Arundhati has now reached the main draw of the tournament that will be played tomorrow, and the competition there is going to be much tougher.

Aditi Mutatkar is the other Indian girl in the fray tomorrow, and the good part is that both Arundhati & Aditi are in separate halfs of the tournament draw, so Indian badminton fans can keep their fingers crossed & hope for an All-India final at Sweden.

Easier said than done! But not impossible...

Jwala-Diju bow out of Malaysia Open Super Series

Jwala Gutta & V.Diju bowed out of the Proton Malaysia Open super series today after they lost in the 2nd round against Hung Lin Chen & Wen Hsing Cheng, of Chinese Taipei in a marathon 42-minute match.

Jwala & Diju put up a good fight to steal the first game 22-20, however Chen-Cheng fought back strongly to win the next 2 games and finally close out the match at 20-22, 21-15 & 21-19.

Nevertheless it was a good performance by Jwala-Diju against better ranked opponents Chen-Cheng, who are the worlds no.10 mixed doubles pair. (also Wen Hsing Cheng is the no.1 womens doubles player in the world)

Jwala-Diju advance, Anand goes down fighting

Anand Pawar put up a good fight against 6th seed & world no.7 Boonsak Ponsana, in the first round of the main draw of the Malaysia Open Super Series badminton tournament being held at Kaula Lampur.

However Boonsak finally prevailed over Anand in the close encounter that lasted for 39 minutes. Anand went down fighting 17-21 in the first game and a very close 21-23 in the second. Though Anand has not made it to the next round, such a good performance against a top 10 player seems to augur well for the future.

Earlier Anand had made his way to the main draw yesterday, winning both his qualifying rounds in gruelling 3-set matches.

In an earlier match of the main draw today, Chetan Anand lost to world no.21 Kazushi Yamada 14-21, 17-21.

India's challenge in the womens doubles also ended, when the pair of Jwala Gutta & Ashwini Ponnappa lost to the 5th seeded Chinese pair of Jing Du & Pan Pan (a new combination). Jing Du & Pan Pan won the match 21-11, 16-21, 21-5

The best news of the day for Indian badminton fans, was that in the mixed doubles event, Jwala Gutta & V.Diju advanced confortably to the 2nd round defeating the German pair of Johannes Schoettler & Sandra Marinello 21-12, 21-13


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Great start for Anand Pawar at Malaysia

Anand Pawar had a great start to his Malaysian Super series campaign today. He won both his qualifying rounds in gruelling 3-setter matches, and has now made his way to the main draw of the tournament, that will see the worlds best players competing for the title.



Anand Pawar

 In the first qualifying round, Anand Pawar, currently ranked 44 in the world, defeated Yong Zhao Ashton Chen of Singapore, ranked 67 by a score of 21-11, 14-21, 21-17.

In the second round, Anand was pitted against local lad Yogendran Khrishnan of Malaysia, who is ranked 76 in the world. However the world rankings do not really count for too much at this level, and the 21 point format ensures that everyone is in with a fair chance, so it was a forgone conclusion that the match was not going to be an easy one.
Also Yogendran who had the backing of the local crowd, had got the scalp of world.no.36 Yu Hsing Hsieh of Chinese Taipei in the first qualifying round, which also meant that he was in good form.

Anand Pawar started well against Yogendran and pocketed the first set, 21-14, however lost the next one 10-21. In the final set that was a close encounter, Anand's experience finally got the better of his rival..and he closed out the set & match. The final scorecard read 21-14, 10-21, 21-17.

This great start to the tournament for Anand, means that he is now part of the main draw, and will be competing for the title with the best players in the world.

Anand's acid test starts tomorrow, and he is pitted to play against Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand, who ranks no.7 in world badminton, and is seeded 6th in this event.

Now, many would feel that having to play a no.7 player in the first round itself is a tough & unfavorable draw for Anand. However, my view is the exact opposite. According to me, it is one of the best possible draws that you can get! (and qualifiers get to meet the seeds early, for a good reason)

Consider this. It is not everyday that a you get to play (read: challenge) a top 10 player. And it could go 2 ways. Either you could end up with a great memorable win that would boost your rankings & confidence, or you could end up learning a lot many finer things about the game that will make you a better player!

This is a good draw for Anand. And a better one according to me, would have been a chance to challenge the world no.1.

Anand has played well in the qualifiers.
Now lets hope that he makes the most of this opportunity against Boonsak!


Related Posts

• An interview with Anand Pawar
• Profile of Anand Pawar

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P Kashyap

Parupalli Kashyap, better known as P.Kashyap is one of India's finest badminton players of today. He is currently ranked No.25 in the world, and is the highest ranked Indian badminton player in the mens' singles category.



P. Kashyap in Action
(Photo credit: G.Krishnaswamy from blogs.thehindu.com)

 P.Kashyap made an entry into the badminton world at the age of 11, when he first enrolled in a training camp being conducted by S.Mohd.Arif in Hyderabad.

Kashyap's father had a transferrable job, and hence later after he shifted with his family to Bangalore, Kashyap joined the Prakash Padukone badminton academy there. The Kashyap family stayed at Bangalore from 2000 to 2003.

While in Bangalore, Kashyap developed breathing troubles, and was often sick when at tournaments. The gravity of the situation was realized only when the family shifted back to Hyderabad again, and a series of tests confirmed asthmatic conditions, that threatened to put to an end his career in badminton. It was a tough time for Kashyap.

However after being diagnosed for Asthma, and with proper medication started, Kashyap started improving, and began to eat well & got back his health. Meanwhile Kashyap's badminton skills also kept on improving under the guidance of Pullela Gopichand.

True, a couple of things changed forever. Breathalyzers (inhalers) got added to his badminton kit to handle emergencies, and he needs to take a TUE certificate (Therapuetic Use Exemption) certificate from WADA every year, by undergoing tests & producing medical certificates, which is a tedious process.

But the good part is he can play badminton, and not only can he play, he can also compete against the best badminton players in the world at the highest levels.

P.Kashyap Fact File:

Birth Date: 8th Sep 1986
He is from: Hyderabad
He trains at: Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad
His current world ranking is: 25
Highest ever world ranking achieved: 23

Most Notable Achievements

2005
P Kashyap won the Indian National Junior Badminton Championship in 2005

2008
Parupalli Kashyap was a Gold Medallist at the 2008 National Games
Kashyap reached the semi-finals of the Dutch Open

2009
Kashyap was a runner-up at the Senior National Badminton Championship.
He reached the last 8 (quarterfinals) of the Asian Badminton Championship held at South Korea
Kashyap won Silver medals in 3 events, the Thailand International, Toulose Open, and the Spanish Open.

2010
Kashyap then won an individual bronze medal & another silver medal in the badminton team event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games at New Delhi.
Kashyap was a Semi-finalist at the Singapore Open Super Series badminton tourney.
Kashyap was a Bronze medallist at the India Open Grand Prix, held at Hyderabad


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Aditi Mutatkar

Aditi Mutatkar is one of the best badminton players in India, and also the reigning National champion, having won the National Badminton Championship womens' singles title this year.

Aditi has representated India in several premier international badminton tournaments, as also the Commonwealth Games & the Asian Games. Based on the BWF badminton world rankings, She is the No.2 badminton player in India, next only to Saina Nehwal.

Aditi's badminton career has seen lots of up's and down's in the form of nagging knee injuries that have seriously threatened to put an end to her career. However this gutsy Pune girl has always bounced back with double the vigour & energy, to leave her mark on Indian badminton.


Aditi Mutatkar



Aditi Ajay Mutatkar - Fact File:

Birth Date: 06-Oct-1987
She lives at: Kothrud, Pune
She is currently employed with: Bharat Petroleum

Her current World Ranking is: 73 (as on 20-Apr-2011)


Apart from badminton, 23-year old Aditi Mutatkar also loves to write, whenever she finds the time. She has a very free-flowing style of writing and her blog is http://aditimutatkar.blogspot.com/






Notable Achievements:

National Achievements:
Aditi Mutatkar has won the National championship in all age groups, the Under-13, U-16, U-19, and most recently she won the womens' singles title at the National Badminton championship at Rohtak to become the National badminton champion of India.

International Achievements:
Aditi, reached the finals of the Bitburger Grand Prix 2008.
She was also a Semi-finalist in the Bulgarian Grand Prix 2008.
Mutatkar also reached the semi-finals of the Dutch Grand Prix 2008.

Commonwealth Silver Medal winner:
Aditi Mutatkar is also the proud winner of a Silver Medal in the badminton team event at the Commonwealth Games 2010, held at New Delhi in India.

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Related Articles:

Aditi Mutatkar crowned as the new National Badminton champion

Interview with Aditi Mutatkar

Arundhati Pantawane

Arundhati Pantawane is one the best upcoming badminton players from India. She currently plays professional club badminton for the Taby club, at Stockholm, Sweden. She is the first out-station ward of the Pullela Gopichand Badminton academy.


Arundhati Pantawane


Arundhati is currently ranked at No.169 in the world as per the latest badminton world rankings (As on 14-Jun-2011).
She has recently come up with terrific performances reaching the finals of the National Championships & the Estonian Open, winning the gold medal at the National Games held at Ranchi this year, and reaching the semi-finals of the Polish Open.
[Update: This sterling performance in the Nationals catapulted Arundhati Pantawane to No.1 position in the Indian rankings released by the BAI in Jan-2011 (albeit this came with reasons: Saina Nehwal has stopped playing domestic badminton, and Aditi also did not play enough tournaments)].

Nevertheless this still means a lot & provided Arundhati plays sufficient international tournaments and in the same winning style, then she should move up a lot in the international rankings also. She is well known in badminton circles for her attacking style of badminton.

Arundhati Pantawane Fact File:

Arundhati's Birth Date: 2-Sep-1989

She studied at: L.A.D. College, Nagpur
Arundhati Pantawane is from: Nagpur, India.
Currently staying at: Stockholm, Sweden, playing professional club badminton.

Arundhati Pantawane - Notable Achievements:

Jul-2010:
Arundhati was the Finalist at the Bengaluru ranking tournament, on the Indian National Badminton Circuit:

Aug-2010:
Arundhati Pantawane won the senior ranking tournament in Rae Bareilly, on India's National Badminton Circuit:
Jan-2011:
Arundhati Pantawane emerges Runners-up at Indian National Badminton Championship:

Arundhati Pantawane emerged as a surprise Runner-up at the National Badminton Championship at Rohtak, Haryana held in Jan this year. She had entered the tournament as a qualifier, and made her way all through to the finals of the tournament defeating defending national champion Trupti Murgunde, on her way.
In an exciting final match, Aditi Mutatkar finally managed to end her dream run, and Arundhati had to be satisfied being the runner-up. However Arundhati Pantawane nevertheless did leave a lasting impression on badminton fans in India with her solid performance in the Nationals.

Arundhati wins Silver Medal at the Estonian Open:

Arundhati Pantawane then followed up this dream run, with a Silver Medal at the Estonian Open International Badminton tournament in Tallinn, Estonia. There also she started the tournament as a qualifier & not only did she win the qualifying rounds with ease, but marched on to the finals of the tournament with power-packed performances. Arundhati's run at the Estonian Open finally ended, when Michelle Chan, New Zealand's No.1 player, ranked 95 in the world, defeated her 21-16, 21-19.
This was Arundhati's first ever medal at a senior International event.

Feb-2011:
Arundhati Pantawane wins Gold Medal at National Games badminton, Ranchi:

Arundhati Pantawane won the Gold Medal at the women's singles badminton event at the National Games of India that was held at Ranchi in Jharkhand. She defeated P.C.Thulasi of Kerala in the finals.

Mar-2011:
Arundhati stuns fancied players to reach the Semi-Finals of Polish Open-2011:

Arundhati Pantawane again started as a qualifier at the Polish Open-2011 and came up with inspiring performances to reach the semi-finals of the tournament, defeating the world. no.34 & the world no.64 on her way to the semi-finals.

Related Article:

An Interview with Arundhati Pantawane


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Swedish Open from 20-23 Jan

The Swedish International Stockholm -2011 is being scheduled to take place from 20-23 Jan. The lone Indian entrant for this tournament is Aditi Mutatkar, the newly crowned National Womens' Badminton champion of India.
(update added later to this article: Arundhati Pantawane of India also qualified at the very last moment for this tournament)
23-year old Aditi, who hails from Pune, and is currently ranked no.81 in the world, will be facing Kaori Imabeppu of Japan (world.no.85) in the first round.

Aditi, earlier had quite consistently been ranked in the 30s and 40s in the world rankings, before an injury that caused her to take some time off, and her ranking slipped to 81. Nevertheless she has bounced back strongly and recently won the Senior National badminton championship at Rohtak in Haryana.

The competition would be stiffer here.
Lets see how she progresses. All the best to her.

Proton Malaysia Open Super Series from 18-23 Jan

The Proton Malaysia Open Super Series badminton tournament is scheduled to be played at Bukit Jalil, in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia between 18-23 Jan-2011.

The Super Series are prestigious badminton events where the top 32 players in the world compete for the title. There are a total of 12 Super Series events held every year at various venues across the globe. From this year onwards BWF (Badminton World Federation) has made some changes to the Super Series format and made it as a 2-tier system. Out of the 12 events, 5 events have been identified and will be called the Super Series Premier offering higher prize money, and the remaining 7 events will be called the Super Series events.

Indian entries for the Proton Malaysia Super Series-2011 event:

In the mens' singles, Chetan Anand, Ajay Jayaram, P Kashyap and Anand Pawar would be seen in action. Chetan Anand & P Kashyap have got a direct entry into the main draw while Ajay & Anand will have to play the qualifying rounds to progress to the main draw.

In the womens' doubles Jwala Gutta & Ashwini Ponnappa are in the main draw & face the Chinese pair of Jing Du & Pan Pan in the first round.

In the mixed doubles, Jwala Gutta & V.Diju have a place in the main draw of the event.

There is no Indian representation in the Mens' doubles event.

There is also no Indian representation in the womens' singles event, since World.No.4 Saina Nehwal has opted out of the tournament, as she is still recovering from an ankle injury and does not want to aggravate her condition. She will later be participating in the Korean Open later this month.





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Arundhati wins Silver Medal at Estonian Open

Arundhati Pantawane's brilliant run at the Estonian open finally came to an end, in the womens singles badminton finals match.



Arundhati Pantawane

 Michelle Kit Yin Chan of New Zealand defeated Arundhati by a score of 21-16, 21-19 in the finals held at Tallinn in Estonia.

Earlier, Arundhati who was a qualifier for this event, not only had won the qualifying rounds with ease, but weaved her way to the Finals defeating seeded players in the process.

For Arundhati, who currently plays as a professional badminton player for the Taby club at Sweden, 2011 is turning out to be a good year. She had earlier reached the finals of the Indian Senior National Badminton championship at Rohtak in Haryana, and lost by a very narrow margin in the finals. And she has now followed up this great run at the Indian Nationals, with a Silver medal in the Estonian Open.

She may not have won the Gold, but her performance does deserve a ton of praise.
And God willing, with the way she is playing, her golden days also will come very soon!

Badminton Tournaments

This article intends to familiarize newcomers to the badminton world, with an introduction to the most prestigious badminton tournaments at the world levels.

Most notable Badminton tournaments in the world:

World Championships:

This is the most prestigious badminton event in the world, the winner of which is hailed as the World champion.
The event is an individual level competition (meaning no team events) and participants can take part in the Mens and Womens singles, the Mens and womens doubles and the Mixed doubles event.

Earlier the event was conducted once in every 2 years, but from 2003 onwards the tournament is held every year (barring the exception of Olympic years, where Olympics champion is considered as the world champion)
This years (2011) world badminton championships is going to be held at London from 8-14 Aug, and at the same venue where the London 2012 Olympics badminton event will be conducted.

Super Series

The BWF Super Series badminton tournaments are a series of 12 events in a year where the top 32 players in the world are invited to participate. From the year 2011, these events have been further classified into a 2-tier system, the Super Series Premier (5 events) and the Super Series (7 events)

These super series events (that has a separate additional ranking system) then cluminates in a year-ending BWF Super Series Finals that takes place between the top 8 players in the world.

The Super series events for 2011 as published by BWF are as below:

Super Series & Super Series Premier events for 2011:

Proton Malaysia Super Series: 18-23 Jan
Victor Korea Super Series Premier: 25-30 Jan
Yonex All-England Super Series Premier: 8-13 Mar
India Super Series: 16-21 Mar
Singapore Super Series: 14-19 Jun
Djarum Indonesia Super Series Premier: 21-26 Jun
Li Ning China Masters Super Series: 13-18 Sep
Yonex Japan Super Series: 20-25 Sep
Denmark Super Series Premier: 18-23 Oct
French Super Series: 25-30 Oct
Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Super Series: 15-20 Nov
Li Ning China Open Super Series Premier: 22-27 Nov

BWF Super Series Finals: 14-18 Dec


Level 3 events: Grand Prix

The Badminton Grand Prix are level 3 events, that rank just below the Super Series events.

These Grand Prix events are individual badminton events where participants compete in the Singles (Men & Women) and Doubles (Mens, Women, and Mixed) events, but there is no team event at the Grand Prix.

Badminton Grand Prix and are comprised of two levels. The Grand Prix Gold, and the Grand Prix, the higher level being the Grand Prix Gold that offers more prize money to the winners.

As per the tournament calender released by the BWF (Badminton World Federation) there are going to be 11 Grand Prix Gold events, and 5 Grand Prix in the year 2011.

The 2011 Grand Prix events are listed below:

Yonex Open German Grand Prix Gold:              1st to 6th Mar-2011
Wilson Swiss Grand Prix Gold :                         15-20 Mar
Yonex Australian Open Grand Prix Gold:            5-10 Apr
Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold:                         3-8 May
SCG Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold:                 7-12 June
Russian Open Grand Prix Gold:                         28-Jun to 3-Jul
Yonex/OCBC US Open Grand Prix Gold:         12-17 Jul
Canadian Open Grand Prix:                               19-24 Jul
Yonex Sunrise Vietnam Open Grand Prix:          23-28 Aug
Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold:                 6-11 Sep
Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold:                       27-Sep to 2-Oct
Dutch Open Grand Prix:                                     11-16 Oct
Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold:                       1-6 Nov
Macau Open Grand Prix Gold:                           29-Nov to 4-Dec
Victor Korea Open Grand Prix:                         6-11 Dec
India Open Grand Prix:                                     13-18 Dec             

(Reference: BWF website: Note* The above dates may change. Refer BWF site for updated details)


The above events are badminton individual events.

If we talk about the badminton team events or about multi-sport events, then the most prestigious tournaments are
the Olympics, the Asian Games (only Asian countries participate), the Commonwealth Games (only commonwealth countries participate), the Thomas Cup (men's team event), the Uber cup (Womens team event)
and the Sudirman Cup (mixed team event).

...will write more about these events in a future article...


Related Articles:

More information about the Sudirman Cup here.

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