Kidambi Srikanth was the first Indian man to reach No. 1 in the world badminton rankings since Prakash Padukone, and the first to play in a World Championships final. In 2017 he won four Superseries titles in a single season, something no Indian man had done before. Five years later he was unbeaten through India’s first Thomas Cup triumph. He is a quick, attacking player with a sharp smash and fast hands at the net, and on his best days he beat the best in the world.
Name: Kidambi Srikanth | Born: 7 February 1993, Ravulapalem, Andhra Pradesh | Sport: Badminton | Event: Men’s singles
Guntur to Hyderabad
Srikanth was born in Ravulapalem in Andhra Pradesh and took up badminton in 2001 in Guntur, following his elder brother, K. Nandagopal, who also became an international player. He moved to the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad, where he first played doubles before switching to singles.
The change suited him. His speed around the court and the angle on his smash made him dangerous against anyone, and within a few years he was the leading Indian man on the circuit.
Beating Lin Dan in China
The result that made the badminton world take notice came at the 2014 China Open. In the final he beat Lin Dan, the double Olympic champion, 21-19, 21-17 in front of a Chinese crowd. It was his first Superseries title. In 2015 he won both the Swiss Open and the India Open, beating Viktor Axelsen in each final.
At the Rio Olympics in 2016 he reached the quarter-finals and pushed Lin Dan to three games before losing 6-21, 21-11, 18-21.
The 2017 season
Srikanth’s best year came in 2017. He won the Indonesia Open, the Australian Open, the Denmark Open and the French Open, four Superseries titles in one season. No Indian man had ever done that. He played with the confidence of a player who expected to win every week.
The run lifted him up the rankings, and in April 2018 he reached world No. 1. He held top spot for one week, but he was the first Indian man there since Padukone in 1980.
Commonwealth medals and a world final
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast he won silver in the men’s singles and gold in the mixed team event. A run of injuries and patchy form followed, and for a while he struggled to find his best level.
He found it again at the 2021 World Championships in Huelva, Spain. Srikanth reached the final, the first Indian man to do so, and lost 15-21, 20-22 to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew. His silver remains the best result by an Indian man at the event.
Thomas Cup glory
In May 2022 India won the Thomas Cup, the men’s world team championship, for the first time. Srikanth played second singles and did not lose a match in the tournament. In the final against 14-time champions Indonesia he beat Jonatan Christie as India won 3-0, a result few had thought possible before the event.
At the Birmingham Commonwealth Games later that year he won bronze in the singles, beating Malaysia’s Teh Jia Heng, and silver in the mixed team event.
Later career
Results have been harder to come by in recent seasons, but Srikanth has kept going. In May 2025 he reached the final of the Malaysia Masters, his first final since 2021, losing to China’s Li Shi Feng. In June 2026 he was runner-up at the US Open, a Super 300 event, losing in three games to Su Li Yang.
Career record and honours
- World Championships: silver, Huelva 2021
- Thomas Cup: gold, Bangkok 2022 (unbeaten)
- Commonwealth Games: singles silver and mixed team gold, Gold Coast 2018; singles bronze and mixed team silver, Birmingham 2022
- Olympic Games: quarter-finalist, Rio 2016
- Superseries titles: China Open 2014; India Open 2015; Indonesia, Australian, Denmark and French Opens 2017
- Grand Prix Gold title: Swiss Open 2015
- Highest world ranking: No. 1 (April 2018)
- Arjuna Award, 2015
- Padma Shri, 2018
