Top five emerging Indian badminton players to watch out for in 2025
WR 50 Rakshita Sri Santosh Ramraj is one of the few players to keep an eye on in 2025.
India has a great legacy of Badminton. They have won medals in every world championship since 2011. This legacy was started by Prakash Padukone and Puliya Gopichand who are considered the pillars of Indian badminton.
The baton passed from him to Saina Nehwal, who revolutionised Indian badminton. She became the first Indian shuttler to win an Olympic medal. We also have the likes of Srikanth, Sai Praneeth and HS Prannoy who did well in the badminton circuit. Then we got PV Sindhu who has been very successful in major tournaments. She has won five World Championship medals including a gold and 2 Olympic medals.
Also Read: Top 10 best performers in badminton in 2024
Now we have players like Lakshya Sen, Satwik/Chirag and Treesa/Gayatri who are carrying the legacy forward. We also need some new emerging players to support them and make India a great Badminton Nation. There are quite a few youngsters who have shown promise in 2024. Now it’s time for them to step up and have a breakthrough 2025 season.
Let’s have a look at the top five emerging Indian badminton in 2025.
Shriyanshi Valishetty
The 17-year-old youngster Shriyanshi has been performing well on the circuit. She reached the semifinals of the Odisha Masters, where she lost to compatriot Tanvi Sharma. Ranked WR #89, Shriyanshi achieved impressive wins over higher-ranked players Dai Wang (China) and Lo Sin Yan Happy (Hong Kong).
Earlier this year, she also defeated India’s No. #2 women’s singles player Malvika Bansod at the Syed Modi Internationals. In Senior National, Shriyanshi became runner-up after losing to Devika Sihag in the final. En route, she defeated last year’s Champion Anmol Kharb in the pre-quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, she defeated Tasnim Mir in straight games. Shriyanshi has been performing well in the national circuit and we can expect a breakthrough year from her in the next season.
Pranay Shettigar
Another player to watch is Pranay Shettigar, a quarterfinalist at the 2024 Jr. World Championships. In the second round of the Odisha Open, Pranay defeated Chinese WR #40 Wang Zhengxing to record his best victory to date. Pranay pulled off an incredible comeback after losing the first game and trailing in the second. Pranay also finished third at the Norwegian International, going down against Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chi Ting in three games.
The 18-year-old is currently at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy (PGBA) and with the experience of Gopichand he will look to do well. The youngster from Maharashtra is expected to do well in the 2025 season.
Also Read: Top five Indian badminton players who emerged in 2024
Rakshita Sree Santosh Ramraj
Another 17-year-old Youngster, Rakshita has been consistently climbing up the ranking. She has breached the top 50 in the world ranking and is currently ranked WR 50. Rakshita has played 5 finals this year winning 2 out of them.
She has been playing Super 300 consistently in 2024. Her best win came against Kristy Gilmour whom she defeated in the Hylo Open. One can expect a breakthrough season from her in 2025. She has been a part of Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy (PGBA) and we can expect her to up her ante next year. In the Senior Nationals Rakshita lost a close match against Isharani Baruah in the round of 16.
Devika Sihag
The 19-year-old youngster from Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) is another youngster to watch out for next year. Devika has been crowned as the National Champion in the current Senior Nationals. Devika defeated last year’s finalist Tanvi Sharma in the Round of 16.
She then defeated Shriyanshi Valishetty in straight games to win the National Title. Currently Ranked WR 79, Devika won two titles this year and finished as the runner-up in one tournament. She will certainly expect to do better in the 2025 season.
Tanvi Sharma
Talented 15-year-old Tanvi Sharma is tipped to be the next big thing in Indian badminton. She also finished second at the nationals the previous year. Tanvi just joined the top 100 of the BWF rankings after finishing as the runner-up at the Odisha Masters.
She also won a silver medal in the 2023 U17 Asian Championships and advanced to the Junior World Championships 2024 quarterfinals. She is playing under PV Sindhu’s former coach Park Tae-sang, who helped her win the bronze medal. She was also part of the Women’s Team that won the 2024 Asian Badminton Championships.
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