Recipient of Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2019
(For Identification and Nurturing of Young Talent in Sports)
Impact
Kidambi Srikanth
GoSports Foundation has been a part of Srikanth’s journey since he was 18 years old and ranked 338 in the world. Today, Srikanth is ruling the badminton world and is India's top men's singles shuttler. He hails from the Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh and is the son of a farmer. He decided to play badminton the day he got to meet his idol, now coach and mentor too, Pullela Gopichand when he came back with the coveted All England trophy. From being a young guy with big dreams to achieving so many of them while tweeting with #believe and #achieve tags on twitter, Srikanth is the perfect poster boy for your annual dose of inspiration.
Achievements and GoSports’ support
2011
Is world number 338
Joins GoSports Foundation
2012
GoSports funds Srikanth’s travel to Maldives for the Maldives International Challenge, which he wins, and other International Tournaments
2013
He beats the then world number. 8 to win the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold event
2014
He beats five-time World Champion and two-time Olympic Champion in front of his home crowd at the early age of 21 to win the 2014 China Open Super Series title
2015
GoSports funds for his personal physiotherapy sessions
2016
Is a quarterfinalist at the Rio Olympics
GoSports facilitates personal mentorship with Rahul Dravid
2017
Becomes only the 4th badminton player ever to win 4 Superseries in one year and climbs to career highest ranking of world no. 2
2018
Becomes first Indian Men's Singles player to become World No 1 in the modern era