Seven facts to know about Indian Badminton player Jwala Gutta

Jwala Gutta is one of the most well-known women sportspersons in the country today. The winner of 14 National Badminton Championships, Jwala Gutta, along with Ashwini Ponnappa has consistently been ranked among the top 20 in the world.

Here are some interesting facts about Jwala and her career.

1. As a young six year old, Jwala picked up the badminton racquet over the tennis racquet and won her first big championship at a very young age- the Mini National Badminton Championship for the young ladies under 13 years old. She has not looked back since.

2. She then went on to win the Junior National Badminton Championship at the age of 13, followed by the Women’s Doubles Junior National Championship and Senior National Badminton Championship. One of her biggest achievements was that she won the Women’s Doubles National title for 7 more years in succession after that.

3. Jwala has won many international tournaments including the Sri Lanka International Satellite tournament in 2006, the Cyprus Badminton International tournament in 2007, the Pakistan International Challenge tournament and the Indian International Challenge tournamentin 2007 and the Nepal International Series tournament and the Yonex Dutch Open Grand Prix 2008 in 2008.

4. Right before the Commonwealth Games held in India in 2010, Jwala paired up with Ponnappa and the duo went on to receive a gold for their spectacular performance. This was the first gold for India at the event.

5.  In 2011,the duo became the first Indian pair to win a medal at the World Badminton Championships. They were also the first and the only Indian pair to qualify in two events in the entire history of the Olympics game, during the 2012 London games.

6. In January 2013, Jwala came back from her short sabbatical and she then announced that she will be pairing up with Ponnappa again.

7. Apart from her various professional feats, Jwala  has also worked for multiple social causes. These include women empowerment,  anti-tobacco and anti-zoo campaigns.

India Times>