Indeed, these are good days for Indian badminton. The sport in the country is not just about Saina Nehwal and Ashwini Ponappa, who have shown the way. Players like K Srikanth, Ajay Jayaram, Saurabh Varma and Sameer Verma, HS Prannoy and to a lesser degree Saili Rane, Tanvi Lad, Sai Praneeth, Guru Prasad have been winning smaller Badminton World Federation (BWF) championships and also knocking out some much higher-ranked, world players with ease.

Rising star: PV Sindhu Pic/Shadab Khan