Who are the Indians to have won badminton men's singles BWF Super Series, Grand Prix Gold or World Tour titles?

This exclusive Indian list takes into account any title won in the BWF Super Series, Grand Prix Gold, or World Tour tournaments.

With his title at the Orleans Masters 2023, India's Priyanshu Rajawat lifted his maiden senior major title. The 21-year-old beat Magnus Johannesen of Denmark in three sets to clinch the trophy. The title also helped Priyanshu script another fine record as he became one of the eight Indians to have won one of the BWF Super Series (SS), BWF Grand Prix Gold (GPG), or the BWF World Tour (WT) title in men's singles.

A major title in badminton now constitutes the tournaments part of the BWF World Tour. The BWF World Tour is a tournament structure announced by the sports governing body. All major tournaments in badminton are part of the BWF World Tour. It came into effect in 2018 replacing the BWF Super Series and the BWF Grand Prix Gold, which was a similar structure in place from 2007 to 2017. All major tournaments in badminton are now part of the BWF World Tour series.

In India, badminton has been on the rise in the last decade. The Indian Badminton men’s team created history last year, clinching the coveted Thomas Cup title. 22-year-old Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth currently lead the men’s singles contingent. The depth in men’s singles was on the show recently as Priyanshu Rajawat became the latest entrant on the list of Indians to have won at least one of SS, GPG, WT titles in Badminton.

With the win, Priyanshu also got into the top 40 of the BWF singles rankings. The form of senior players has been a concern but with experience, they can make a good comeback anytime soon.

In this article let us discuss the list of Indians who have won at least one of BWF Super Series (SS), BWF Grand Prix Gold (GPG), and the BWF World Tour (WT) titles in badminton men's singles.

Priyanshu Rajawat

As aforementioned, 21-year-old Priyanshu Rajawat became the latest entrant on the list of Indians to have won a BWF World Tour title in badminton by winning the Orleans Masters World Tour (300) title. The youngster won his first senior title in 2019, at the Bahrain International Challenger beating Jason Ho Shue. Priyanshu went on to win four International Challenger Series titles and followed it up with a tour title this year.

The youngster achieved a career-best ranking of 38 in the BWF singles rankings and is currently the fourth-best ranked singles player.

Arvind Bhat

Former top 20 singles player Arvind Bhat won his only Grand Prix title at the German Open in 2014 defeating Hans-Kristian Vittinghus. He has won seven International titles including the Scottish Open in 2004, the Czech International in 2007 and the 2014 German Open. Arvind participated in the Asian Games in 2010 and was part of the Indian team for the Sudirman Cup in 2011.

Sameer Verma

Former world number 11, Sameer Verma has won three BWF Tour titles and one BWF Grand Prix title. 2018 was the most successful season for Sameer Verma, winning three BWF Tour finals which enabled him to qualify for the World Tour finals ( the top eight most consistent players across all five disciplines are allowed to compete). 

BWF Tour Titles

• Swiss Open, Hyderabad Open, and Syed Modi International (2018)

BWF Grand Prix Titles

• Syed Modi International (2017)

Parupalli Kashyap

Former world number six Parupalli Kashyap has won two BWF Grand Prix titles. Apart from performing well on the BWF tour, Kashyap has won several medals at the Commonwealth Games (gold medal-2014, silver medal-2010 (mixed), and bronze medal-2010). The athlete from Andhra Pradesh is currently at the fag end of his career.

BWF Grand Prix titles

• Indian Grand Prix Gold (2012) and Syed Modi International (2015)

B.Sai Praneeth

Sai Praneeth had a successful career at the BWF Tour events from 2015 to 2020. He became the second men’s player from India to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. In 2019, Praneeth won a bronze medal at the BWF World Championships in Basel, Switzerland after losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Kento Momota.

Also, other than B Sai Praneeth, there are no other Indians to have won major titles in all three kinds of badminton events.

BWF World Tour Titles

• Swiss Open (2019)

BWF Super Series Titles

• Singapore Open (2017)

BWF Grand Prix Titles

• Canada Open (2016), Syed Modi International (2017), and Thailand Open (2017)

Lakshya Sen

Former junior World No. 1, Lakshya Sen has won several accolades in both the junior and senior set-up. He won gold medals at the Asian Junior Championships 2018 in the boys' singles and at the Summer Youth Olympics in the mixed team event. Sen went on to win the bronze medal at the World Championships 2021 and was runner-up at the All England Open 2022. 

The Uttarakhand athlete was a vital member of the Thomas Cup-winning team in 2022. 

BWF World Tour Titles

• Dutch Open (2019), SaarLorLux Open (2019), and India Open (2022)

Kidambi Srikanth

Kidambi Srikanth won his major senior title at the BWF Grand Prix Thailand Open in 2013. He is the first-ever Indian male player to enter the finals of three successive Super Series finals in 2017.

BWF Super Series Titles

• China Open (2014), India Open (2015), Indonesia Open (2017), Australian (2017), Denmark Open (2017), French Open (2017)

BWF Grand Prix Titles

Thailand Open (2013), Swiss Open (2015), and Syed Modi International (2016)

HS Prannoy

HS Prannoy is currently the top-ranked Indian player in the BWF men’s singles rankings. The 30-year-old made a strong comeback post-rehab in 2021, defeating higher-ranked players. In the quarter-final against Malaysia, he won the decider match against Leong Jun Hao to assure India of a semi-final spot and its first-ever medal in the Thomas Cup. 

BWF Grand Prix Titles

• Indonesian Masters (2014), Swiss Open (2016), and US Open (2017)