The Best of Asia: Ashwini Ponnappa
Ashwini Ponnappa is a talented female badminton player that was born in India on 18 September 1989 at Coorg in Karnakata. She represents her country at the international badminton circuit in both the women’s and mixed doubles matches. She is currently ranked #20 in the Women’s Doubles World Ranking.
She found her love and passion for badminton at an early stage of her life when her mother introduced her to the sport. She actually had the option to pursue hockey over badminton due to her father’s love for hockey. However, she preferred badminton instead. She harnessed her talents by beginning professional training for the sport while pursuing her education all at the same time. She studied at St. Francis Xavier Girls High School, Bangalore and St. Mary’s College, Hyderabad.
Since the beginning of her career, Ponnappa has always been a doubles player, and her first national title came in the Sub-Junior Girls Doubles division in the 2004 National Championship. She defended her title at the 2005 National Championship a year later. She had also been able to succeed in mixed doubles events when she finished first at the South Asian Games held in 2010.
She soon was paired with Jwala Gutta and together they have been able to win many medals in international events including the gold medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and bronze medals at the Uber Cup and Asian Badminton Championships. The two were persistent with their rankings as they would consistently rank among the top 20 in the BWF World Ranking and ranked no. 10 as their highest. The pair have also been able to make history when they won third place in the BWF World Championships in 2011, becoming the first Indian women pair to win a medal at the World Championships.
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