Srikanth Kidambi
Srikanth Kidambi is an Indian badminton player. He represented India in Badminton at the [2016 Summer Olympics – Men's singles|men's singles] at the 2016 Rio Olympics, finishing fifth after a quarterfinal run. In April 2018, he made history by becoming the first Indian male to achieve the World No.1 ranking since Prakash Padukone. He made history in 2021 by becoming the first Indian male to reach the final of the BWF World Championships in the 2021 [BWF World Championships - Men's singles|men's singles] category, winning a silver medal. Kidambi also served as the captain of the historic Thomas Cup-winning team in 2022 [Thomas Cup knockout stage|2022], leading India to its first-ever title in the tournament.
Early life and background
Srikanth Nammalwar Kidambi was born in Ravulapalem, Andhra Pradesh on 7 February 1993 to a Telugu family. His father, KVS Krishna, is a landlord, and his mother Radha is a house-wife. His older brother K. Nandagopal is also a badminton player and junior national champion with his brother. They used to live in the same house until 2008 and then Srikanth moved to the Gopichand Academy to continue his practice.Career
2011
In the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games in the Isle of Man, Kidambi won the bronze medal in men's doubles and silver in mixed doubles. He also emerged as the winner in the singles and doubles category at the All India Junior International Badminton Championship held in Pune.2012
In 2012, Kidambi overcame the then Junior World Champion Zulfadli Zulkiffli of Malaysia in the Maldives International Challenge to claim the men's singles title.2013
In the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold|Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold] event, Kidambi won the men's singles title, beating then world number eight and local favorite Boonsak Ponsana in straight games. In the same year, Kidambi beat reigning champion and Olympian Parupalli Kashyap in the All India Senior National Championships in Delhi to claim his first senior national title. He was also part of the Awadhe Warriors team that finished second in the Indian Badminton League, 2013.2014
Kidambi finished runner up at the 2014 India Open Grand Prix Gold event in Lucknow and was a quarterfinalist in the 2014 Malaysian Open. He was part of the Indian badminton contingent that reached the semi-finals of the Badminton at the [2014 Commonwealth Games – Mixed team|mixed team event] at the Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow. He also reached the quarter-finals of the Commonwealth Games – Men's singles|men's singles event] in the same tournament. In November, he created a major upset in the final of the China Open Super Series Premier">China Open (badminton)">China Open Super Series Premier by beating 5-time World Champion and 2-time Olympic Champion Lin Dan in straight games, thus becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series Premier men's title. He then reached the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open Super Series after beating Taiwan's Chou Tien-chen in an early round. He lost to Chen Long of China in three games in the semi-finals. With those wins, he was qualified for the World Superseries Finals. He defeated Kento Momota and Tommy Sugiarto in the group stage to reach the semi-final of the prestigious BWF Super Series Masters Finals, where he lost again to Chen Long of China.2015
Kidambi became the first Indian man to win gold at the 2015 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold by defeating Viktor Axelsen 21–15, 12–21, 21–14. During the same year, he also won the India Open Super Series title by defeating Viktor Axelsen in the final.2016
Kidambi reached the semifinal in the Malaysia Masters, where he lost to Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin of Malaysia in January. The following week, he won the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships Grand Prix Gold title, defeating Huang Yuxiang 21–13, 14–21, 21–14 in the final. At the 2016 South Asian Games, he won two gold medals, in men's team and men's singles, defeating Prannoy Kumar in the singles final. At the 2016 Badminton Asia Team Championship, although his team lost in the semifinal, he remained undefeated.In the 2016 Rio Olympics, the World No. 11 Kidambi entered the Round of 16 of the men's singles by beating Lino Muñoz and Henri Hurskainen. He went on to beat World No. 5 Jan Ø. Jørgensen 21–19, 21–19 to reach the quarterfinals, but was defeated by Lin Dan by a score of 6–21, 21–11, and 18–21.
2017
Kidambi and Sai Praneeth created history when they became the first ever Indian pair to enter the finals of a ranking event in Badminton. Both hailing from Hyderabad and being coached by Pullela Gopichand, it was Sai Praneeth who prevailed 17–21, 21–17, 21–12 eventually to clinch the Singapore Super Series title.Kidambi won the Indonesia Super Series Premier|Indonesia Super Series] beating Japan's Kazumasa Sakai 21–11, 21–19, thereby becoming the first ever Indian male player to do so. He went on to win the Australian Super Series beating China's Chen Long 22–20, 21–16 in the final, setting an Indian record for entering three consecutive Super Series Finals. At the World Championships, he was defeated in the quarter-final by South Korea's Son Wan-Ho in straight games. At the next Super Series, the Denmark Super Series Premier|Denmark], he won the title defeating Lee Hyun-il of Korea 21–10, 21–5 in the final. Following his good run, Kidambi became the fourth player ever to win four Super Series titles in a year, after he won the French Super Series that followed, defeating Japan's Kenta Nishimoto 21–14, 21–13 in the final. In the process, he equalled the record held by Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan, and Chen Long. Following the victory, he reached his career-best world ranking of 2.
2018
Kidambi started 2018 at the India Open (badminton)|India Open] as the second seed. He was defeated in the second round by Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin who had qualified from the qualifiers. He also lost in the second round at the All England Open to Chinese player Huang Yuxiang in three games. At the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Kidambi was more successful, winning a gold in the mixed team event, and a silver in the singles event. He achieved the world number 1 ranking for a week during this period. Kidambi lost to Liew Daren 18–21, 18–21 at the World Championships – Men's singles|world championships] pre-quarters. Kidambi had a disappointing 2018 Asian Games where in Badminton at the [2018 Asian Games – Men's singles|singles] he lost in 1st round to Wong Wing Ki 21–23, 19–21 and in the team event after defeating Maldives 3–0 in the 1st round his team suffered a loss to Indonesia in quarterfinals.2019
Kidambi represented his country at the South Asian Games in Nepal, and won the gold medal in the team event.2021
In 2021, Kidambi reached the finals of World championships becoming the first Indian male badminton player to do so. He lost the final to Loh Kean Yew to win the silver medal.2022
Kidambi was part of the Indian men's team for Thomas Cup 2022. The team went on to win the Thomas Cup by beating Indonesia 3–0 in the final, with Kidambi winning his match against Jonatan Christie.Achievements
World Championships
Men's singles| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín, Huelva, Spain |  Commonwealth GamesMen's singles
|
silver2
gold1
gold1