Parupalli Kashyap Biography

Parupalli Kashyap is an Indian badminton player. He is currently the top ranked badminton player in the male singles in India. He made India proud by winning the gold medal in men’s singles tournament at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014. He also reached the quarter-final of the London Olympics 2012, but missed to bag a medal. A right handed player, Parupalli is also a receiver of the Arjuna Award 2012.

Early Life of Parupalli Kashyap

Parupalli Kashyap was born on 8 September 1986 in Hyderabad to Uday Shankar and Subhadra Shankar. He started playing badminton at the age of 11 and took it as a recreational sport. He enrolled for the first time with the training camp organised by the badminton coach S.M. Arif in Hyderabad. His father had a transferable job, and therefore his family shifted to Bangalore, where he joined the Padukone Academy. He again moved back to Hyderabad in 2004 where he was diagnosed with Asthma. His medical condition could have resulted in the failure of his career, but he was determined to surmount his problems. His condition improved with suitable medications, and he continued with his training under his coach Pullela Gopichand at the Gopichand Academy.

Professional Career of Parupalli Kashyap

Parupalli started playing badminton at the age of 11 but began his professional career at the national level from 2005 and at international level from 2006. In 2005, he won the boy’s singles title in the National Junior Open Badminton Championship. In 2006, he took part in the Hong Kong Open where he reached the pre-quarterfinals. In the same year he gave one of his best performances in the Bitburger Open and reached its semi-finals. After this win, his world ranking improved and reached 64. He also represented India in the Asian Games in the same year. During the 33rd National Games, he trumped National Champion Chetan Anand and won the gold medal.

In 2009, he reached the semi-finals of the Dutch Open and the Senior National Badminton Championships and Singapore Super Series. It was the Commonwealth Games 2010, when Parupalli made India proud by winning the bronze medal. He made it to the semi-finals of the India Open Grand Prix 2010.

In 2012, he reached the semi-finals of the 2012 Djaram Indonesia Open. He lost the quarter-final of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Although he lost the Olympics, he created history by becoming the first Indian player to reach this level in the Olympics. After a victory in Korea in 2013, his ranking improved and he was positioned at 10th place in the world. As per the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings of April 2013, his ranking improved to sixth position after his striking performance in the match against Indonesia’s Taufiq Hidayat.

Parupalli’s most remarkable and memorable victory is the gold medal which he has won in the Commonwealth Games 2014. The gold which he brought to India for the men’s singles event has came after 32 years post Syed Modi’s victory in the year 1982.

Awards and Achievements of Parupalli Kashyap

Parupalli began playing badminton at the age of 11.
He trains for this sport six times a week.
He won a silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
He is the first male sportsperson in India to reach the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games 2012.
In 2012, he received the Arjuna Award for his achievements in badminton.
Parupalli suffers from asthma for which he needs to gain a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) certificate from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).