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Where’s the next gen of Indian badminton stars?
Updated On: 11 May, 2025 08:15 AM IST | Mumbai | Shirish Nadkarni
Despite its steady march to the top of the game in the past decade, the Indian bench is now losing steam, with no young stars to inspire us as PV Sindhu’s generation of players did
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As for the men’s doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (right) and Chirag Shetty (left), a lingering stomach injury to the latter prevented the duo from strutting their stuff at the 2025 Sudirman Cup; There is a demoralising absence of stars on the horizon, such as PV Sindhu, who has achieved all there is to be achieved; On the individual front, the top performance in recent times was Lakshya Sen’s showing in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Pics/Getty Images
Three years ago, Indian badminton was sitting on top of the world. The Thomas Cup, a symbol of men’s team supremacy in international badminton, was firmly in its grasp for the first time in its history, following a thumping 3-0 title triumph over 14-time champion Indonesia in 2022.
Yet, when defending the crown in 2024, the Indians failed to cross the quarter-final stage, and ended the tournament in the 5-to-8 bracket, with a shattering 1-3 loss to China in the quarter-finals in Chengdu. They had squeaked into the last-eight stage with wins over Thailand and England, but capitulated to Indonesia.
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