Ace shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and other Indian players will have a lot of things at stake when they represent India at the upcoming All England Badminton Championships (105th Edition) starting today. The history of this prestigious tournament is traced back to 1898, when its first edition was played in Guildford (England). The prize money of this year’s championship is kept at 500,000 US$.
All England Open Badminton Championships
Amongst Indians, only two legendary players Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand have won the trophy so far in the year 1981 and 2001 respectively. Considering Saina Nehwal’s sublime form in recent times, she is the front runner to excel in the contest from women singles category. Also Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnapa will also represent India in the women’s category at the Mixed Double round.
There will also be a large amount of expectation from K. Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap and others who will represent India in the male’s category. K. Srikanth will take on Kento Momota (Japan), while Kashyap will have to battle it out against the Chou Tien Chen (China).
The Great Indian Dream
Probably this is the first time that there is such a massive expectation from Indian shuttlers. As many as fifteen players flew to England to participate in the contest from India. Let us look briefly into the profiles of some of our prolific badminton players who performed brilliantly in recent times.
- Srikanth Kidambi – He is India’s highest ranking (4) badminton player until now. The 22-year-old has won the Thailand open in 2013 and China Open in 2014 respectively. He seems to be in good touch these days.
- Saina Nehwal – Continuing with her spectacular form the 24-year-old is set to play well in the upcoming championship to be held in England from 3rd March onwards. She won India Open Grand Prix Gold, Australian Super Series and China Open Super Series in the last year and made 2014 as the landmark year in her career.
- Parupalli Kashyap – The 28-year-old badminton player from Hyderabad is sure to surprise everybody with his amazing performance in the coming days. The player won 2015 India Open Grand Prix Gold back in January this year. He also won gold at the last year’s commonwealth games (Glasgow).
- Ashwini Ponnappa – The 25-year-old badminton player will be teaming up with Jwala Gutta for the women’s doubles contest. Ponnapa won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games 2014 held in Glasgow.
- Jwala Gutta – The 31-year-old Maharashtrian player has also won the silver medal last year at the Commonwealth games. Her pairing with Ashwini Ponnapa is highly successful and brought many laurels in India. The same is expected this time too.
Nehwal has recently admitted that she definitely carries the dream in her eyes to win this prestigious trophy. Undoubtedly Kashyap, Srikanth and other Indian shuttlers also wish to try their level best at the badminton championship. The question remains, can Indian players create history in this prestigious championship after 15-long years?
Tags: All England Open Badminton Championships, Ashwini Ponnappa, Badminton, India, Jwala Gutta, Parupalli Kashyap, Saina Nehwal, Srikanth Kidambi
