Srikanth Kidambi, also known as K. Srikanth, is a prominent Indian badminton player. Srikanth Nammalwar Kidambi (his birth name) came into limelight during the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games. In April 2018, he became the highest ranked men`s badminton player in the world and is also sponsored by Yonex.
Early Life of Srikanth Kidambi
Srikanth Kidambi was born on 7th February 1993 in Guntur in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. Kidambi`s father KVS Krishna is a landlord, and his mother Radha is a house-wife. His elder brother Nandagopal is also an internationally acclaimed badminton player.
This Guntur born shuttler has shifted his base to Hyderabad for better prospects in the sport. His training session takes place in Hyderabad at the Gopichand Badminton Academy. The GoSports Foundation, Bengaluru finances his training. Kidambi has been part of their scholarship programme since the year 2012.
Career of Srikanth Kidambi
Srikanth Kidambi came into spotlight during the Commonwealth Youth Games in Isle of Man which was held in the year 2011. He grabbed the silver in mixed doubles and bronze in doubles. He also won the singles and doubles category at the All India Junior International Badminton Championship held in Pune. In 2012, he won his first international title in Maldives.
In the year 2013, Srikanth won the Men`s singles title in the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold event. He claimed the title after beating the world number eight and local favourite Boonsak Ponsana in straight sets. In the same year, he claimed his first senior national title by beating Olympian Parupalli Kashyap in the All India Senior National Championships in Delhi. Srikanth also participated in the 2013 Indian Badminton League.
In the year 2014, he participated in the India Open Grand Prix Gold event held in Lucknow and the Malaysian Open. The events declared him a runner-up and quarter finalist respectively. In the same year, he was a part of the Indian badminton contingent that reached the semi finals of the Mixed-team event at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. In 2014, Srikanth also reached the quarter finals of the Men`s Singles event in the same tournament. All these wins have made Srikanth Kidambi a big hit in the men`s circuit.
In 2015 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold, Kidambi became the first Indian male to win gold and in same year he also won India Open Super Series title. At the 2016 South Asian Games, he won two gold medals in men`s team and men`s singles. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Kidambi entered the round of 16 of the men`s singles but in quarterfinals, was defeated by Lin Dan. In 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. Kidambi then won the Indonesia Super Series and became the first ever Indian male player to do so. Then he also set an Indian record for entering three consecutive Super Series Finals and went on to win Australian Super Series beating China`s Chen Long 22-20, 21-16 in the final. At the World Championships, he was defeated in the quarter-final and at the next Super Series, in Denmark, he won the title defeating Lee Hyun-il. Kidambi became the fourth player yet to win four Super Series titles in a year following the French Super Series.
Kidambi started with the 2018 India Open as the second seeded but was defeated in the second round. He was also out in the second round at the 2018 All England Open, lost to Chinese player Huang Yuxiang in the rubber game. He then competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, winning gold in the mixed team event and silver in the singles event.
Awards of Kidambi Srikanth
Srikanth received Padma Shri on March 21, 2018 from Ram Nath Kovind, the President of India.
