BADMINTON PLAYERS from India

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Indian Badminton Players of all time. This list of famous Indian Badminton Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Indian Badminton Players.

1. Prakash Padukone (b. 1955)

With an HPI of 37.39, Prakash Padukone is the most famous Indian Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages on wikipedia.

Prakash Padukone (born 10 June 1955) is an Indian former badminton player. He was ranked World No. 1 in 1980; the same year he became the first Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championships. He was awarded the Arjuna award in 1972 and the Padma Shri in 1982 by the Government of India. He is one of the co-founders of Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation dedicated to the promotion of Olympic sports in India.

2. Saina Nehwal (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 34.19, Saina Nehwal is the 2nd most famous Indian Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 41 different languages.

Saina Nehwal (; born 17 March 1990) is an Indian badminton player. A former world no. 1, she has won 24 international titles, which includes ten Superseries titles. Although she reached the world's 2nd in 2009, it was only in 2015 that she was able to attain the world no. 1 ranking, thereby becoming the only female player from India and thereafter the second Indian player – after Prakash Padukone – to achieve this feat. She has represented India three times in the Olympics, winning a bronze medal in her second appearance at London 2012. Nehwal has achieved several milestones in badminton for India. She is the only Indian to have won at least one medal in every BWF major individual event, namely the Olympics, the BWF World Championships, and the BWF World Junior Championships. She is the first Indian badminton player to have won an Olympic medal, the first Indian to have reached the final of the BWF World Championships, and the first Indian to have won the BWF World Junior Championships. In 2006, Nehwal became the first Indian female and the youngest Asian to win a 4-star tournament. She is also the first Indian to win a Super Series title. In the 2014 Uber Cup, she captained the Indian team and remained undefeated, helping India to win a first-ever Uber Cup bronze medal. Nehwal also became the first Indian to win two singles gold medals (2010 and 2018) at the Commonwealth Games. Considered one of India's most successful badminton players, Nehwal is credited for increasing the popularity of badminton in India. In 2016, she was conferred the Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award. Previously, she had also received the nation's top two sporting honours, namely the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award. Nehwal is a philanthropist and was ranked 18th on the list of most charitable athletes in 2015.

3. P. V. Sindhu (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 33.35, P. V. Sindhu is the 3rd most famous Indian Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 51 different languages.

Pusarla Venkata Sindhu, popularly known as PV Sindhu, (born 5 July 1995) is an Indian badminton player. Considered one of India's most successful sportspersons, Sindhu has won medals at various tournaments such as the Olympics and on the BWF circuit, including a gold at the 2019 World Championships. She is the first and only Indian to become the badminton world champion and only the second individual athlete from India to win two consecutive medals at the Olympic Games. She rose to a career-high world ranking of No. 2 in April 2017. Sindhu broke into the top 20 of the BWF World Rankings in September 2012, at the age of 17. She has won a total of five medals at the BWF World Championships and is only the second woman after China's Zhang Ning ever to win five or more singles medals in the competition. She represented India at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she became the first Indian badminton player to reach the Olympic final. She won the silver medal after losing out to Spain's Carolina Marín. She made her second consecutive Olympic appearance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won a bronze medal, becoming the first-ever Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. Sindhu won her first superseries title at the 2016 China Open and followed it up with four more finals in 2017, winning the titles in South Korea and India. She also won the 2018 BWF World Tour Finals and remains the only Indian player to win a season finale title. She is also the reigning Commonwealth Games champion and has won three consecutive singles medals at the Commonwealth Games, a silver medal at the Asian Games, and two bronze medals at the Uber Cup. With earnings of US$8.5 million, $5.5 million, $7.2 million, $7.1 million and $7.1 million respectively, Sindhu made the Forbes' list of Highest-Paid Female Athletes in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. She is a recipient of the sports honours Arjuna Award and Khel Ratna Award, as well as the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, India's third-highest and fourth-highest civilian awards.

4. Pullela Gopichand (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 28.55, Pullela Gopichand is the 4th most famous Indian Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Pullela Gopichand (born 16 November 1973) is an Indian former badminton player. Currently, he is the Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001, becoming the second Indian to achieve this feat after Prakash Padukone. He runs the Gopichand Badminton Academy. He received the Arjuna Award in 1999, the Khel Ratna Award (highest sporting honor in India) in 2001, the Dronacharya Award in 2009 and the Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award – in 2014. He is the only Indian coach to win the "Honorable Mention" by the International Olympic Committee at the 2019 Coaches Lifetime Achievement Awards.

5. Srikanth Kidambi (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 24.27, Srikanth Kidambi is the 5th most famous Indian Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Srikanth Kidambi (born 7 February 1993) is an Indian badminton player. A former world no. 1, Kidambi was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, in 2018. and the Arjuna award in 2015. In 2021, he became the first Indian to reach the World Championship final in the men's singles discipline.

6. Jwala Gutta (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 23.51, Jwala Gutta is the 6th most famous Indian Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Jwala Gutta (born 7 September 1983) is an Indian badminton player. Beginning in the late 1990s, she represented India at international events in both mixed and women's doubles. She has a total of 316 match wins in both the disciplines—the most by any Indian—and peaked at no. 6 in the world rankings. Gutta has won medals at numerous tournaments on the BWF circuit including a silver at the 2009 Superseries Masters Finals and a bronze at the 2011 World Championships. Born in Wardha to a Chinese mother and a Telugu father, she began playing badminton at a young age. A fourteen-time National Champion, Gutta played with Shruti Kurien earlier in her career, but found greater international success with Ashwini Ponnappa. The pair consistently figured among the top-twenty in the BWF World Ranking reaching as high as no. 10 in 2015. Gutta is the first badminton player of Indian origin to qualify for two events in the Olympics–women's doubles with Ponnappa and mixed doubles with V. Diju at London. Gutta is known for her skilled left-handed stroke-play and is one of the very few doubles players to use a forehand service. Gutta has won numerous medals for Indian badminton including the bronze medal 2011 BWF World Championships in London and a gold and silver at 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games respectively in the women's doubles event which were the first for the country in the discipline. Other achievements include the historic bronze medal at the 2014 Thomas & Uber Cup held at New Delhi, a bronze medal at Badminton Asia Championships in the same year and final and semi-final appearances in many big international events most notably the finals appearance at the 2009 BWF Super Series Masters Finals, alongside Diju which was the first for the country in any discipline. Gutta has been credited to have brought recognition for doubles badminton in India, first with her mixed doubles partner Diju with whom she peaked at no. 6 in 2010 becoming the first doubles partnership from the country to be ranked amongst the top-10 and later with her partnership with Ponnappa in women's doubles. She paired with Ponappa at the Rio 2016 Olympics where the pair crashed out in the group stage with two consecutive losses at the hands of opponents from Japan and Netherlands. Gutta has won medals at all major international badminton tournaments and multi-sport events, except for the Olympics. In addition to her badminton career, Gutta has been vociferous for the issues she advocates for, ranging from fair treatment in sports, health and education, women's empowerment and gender equality. She has been listed several times among the top most inspiring sportswomen of India. She was awarded the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting award for her achievements. Gutta was married to badminton player Chetan Anand from 2005 to 2011. She told ESPN that she was contemplating retirement, after entering negotiations for a coaching role for BAI in May 2017.

7. Aparna Popat (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 22.94, Aparna Popat is the 7th most famous Indian Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Aparna Popat (born 18 January 1978) is a former Indian badminton player. She was India's national champion for a record equaling nine times when she won all the senior national championships between 1997 and 2006.

8. Ashwini Ponnappa (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 20.83, Ashwini Ponnappa is the 8th most famous Indian Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Ashwini Ponnappa Machimanda (born 18 September 1989) is an Indian badminton player who represents the country at the international badminton circuit in both the women's and mixed doubles disciplines. She had a successful partnership with Jwala Gutta as the pair has won many medals in international events including a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and bronze medals at the Uber Cup and the Asian Badminton Championships. They were consistently ranked among the top 20 in the BWF World Ranking reaching as high as no. 10. Ponnappa and Gutta also won the bronze medal at the BWF World Championships in 2011, becoming the first Indian pair and women and only the second overall to win a medal at the World Championships.

9. Parupalli Kashyap (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 17.58, Parupalli Kashyap is the 9th most famous Indian Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Parupalli Kashyap (born 8 September 1986) is an Indian former badminton player. A former World No. 6, he is a coach at Gopichand Badminton Academy. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2012. He became the first male player from India to reach the quarter-finals of men's singles at the 2012 London Olympics. At the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, he won the gold medal in men's singles. Kashyap was the Icon Player for the Indian Badminton League team, Banga Beats in the 2013 edition.

10. Chirag Shetty (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 16.76, Chirag Shetty is the 10th most famous Indian Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Chirag Shetty (born 4 July 1997) is an Indian badminton player. With his doubles partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, he is an Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Championships gold medalist. They are the only Indian doubles pair to become World No. 1 in BWF World Ranking, win the BWF World Tour 1000 series, and become the first Indians to win a gold medal at the Asian Games in badminton.