It’s a matter of pride for any shuttler to feature in the BWF World Championships. After all, the annual event commands a high authority among all major badminton tournaments.
Many renowned women’s shuttlers have made their mark in the championships, including those from India. But it took more than three decades for Indian women’s badminton players to win a medal in the tournament.
Since then, the picture has changed drastically though, with two of the finest Indian women’s shuttlers having consistent runs and winning medals in the BWF World Championships.
So here are the Indian women’s badminton players to win medals in the BWF World Championships.
1. PV Sindhu
Medals: 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze
PV Sindhu is the most successful Indian badminton player not just in the women’s singles discipline but across all categories in the World Championships. The Hyderabad shuttler has won five medals in the top-tier badminton event.
Her first medal came in the 2013 edition as she reached the semis, though she lost against Ratchanok Inthanon by 10-21, 13-21. Sindhu bagged the bronze, becoming the first Indian women’s singles shuttler to win a medal in the BWF World Championships.
In the next edition, she won another bronze, going down against Carolina Marin in the semi-final by 17-21, 15-21. In 2015, Sindhu bowed out of the quarter-finals, but she bounced back in 2017 to change the colour of her medal to silver.
Sindhu reached the final and gave a tough fight against Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara. She lost the first set by 19-21, then returned back with 22-20, only to lose the last set by 20-22.
In the 2018 championships as well, the tall shuttler stormed into the finals but lost against her fierce rival Marin by 19-21, 10-21. After missing out on the gold twice, Sindhu came determined in the 2019 event.
And as they say, the third time’s a charm, she went on to lift the title by beating Okuhara in two straight sets by 21-7. 21-7. With that, Sindhu became the first-ever Indian player to win a gold medal in the BWF World Championships.
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2. Saina Nehwal
Medals: 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
Saina Nehwal is the other Indian women’s singles player to win medals in the BWF World Championships. She clinched two medals in the annual event.
When Sindhu exited the quarter-finals in the 2015 edition, all eyes were on Nehwal, who went on to play in the final. She was up against Spain’s Carolina Marin, giving her some fight before losing by 16-21, 19-21.
Nehwal settled on the silver medal, making her the first Indian women’s shuttler to feature in the BWF World Championships final. In the next edition held in 2017, Nehwal almost looked certain of another final.
The Haryana shuttler squared off against Japanese Okuhara in the semi-final and opened the match by winning the first set by 21-12. But then she lost the next two sets by 17-21, 10-21 to end up with a bronze medal.
3. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa
Medal: 1 Bronze
Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa became India’s first-ever pair to win a BWF World Championships medal. The women’s doubles pair made their way from the first three preliminary rounds to the quarter-finals.
They defeated the seeded Indonesian pair of Vita Marissa and Nadya Melati in the quarter-final to enter the semi-final. But Gutta and Ponnappa couldn’t sustain the challenge from the Chinese duo of Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei, losing the match by 14-21, 16-21.
Eventually, Gutta and Ponnappa had to settle on a bronze medal, though it was a historic moment in Indian badminton history. The pair was just the second to win a medal in the championships after Prakash Padukone (1983).
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