Kidambi Srikanth of Telangana is India’s first male badminton player to secure top rank in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings. The player has replaced Denmark’s Victor Axelsen as world’s best male badminton player.
“Absolutely thrilled to be ranked world No 1. I would like to thank my coach Gopi Sir for believing in me and my support staff for always taking care of me. Through my journey, I have received immense support from the government of India, Sports Authority of India and Government of Andhra Pradesh,” Srikanth shared on his Twitter handle.
Srikanth bagged 76895 points by winning four Super Series titles in 2017, which is the best by an Indian male badminton player. He was also named as the Sportsperson of the Year in the third Mahindra Scorpio Times Of India Sports Awards (TOISA) in February this year.
Srikanth is now representing India in the ongoing Commonwealth Games(CWG) in Australia. Earlier, he had also defeated former world no.1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the tournament.
This is not the first time that Srikanth has made India proud. Here is the list of his title-winning achievements last year.
- French Open Title
- Denmark Open Title
- Australian Open Title
- Indonesia Open Title
Kidambi Srikanth was also awarded the prestigious Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award by Ram Nath Kovind, the President of India on March 21st, 2018.
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