Shikha Gautam

Shikha Rajesh Gautam (born 18 April 1998) is an Indian badminton player.[1] A member of the Indian squad at the 2019 Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in Hong Kong, Shikha is current national champion and is ranked no. 1 Women's Doubles player in India.[2]

Shikha Gautam
Personal information
Birth nameShikha Rajesh Gautam
Country India
Born (1998-04-18) 18 April 1998
Visakhapatnam, India
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight55 kg (121 lb)
HandednessRight
Women's singles & doubles
Highest ranking148 (WS 24 September 2019)
110 (WD 17 March 2020)
Current ranking110 (WD 17 March 2020)
BWF profile

Career

A child prodigy, Shikha was born in Visakhapatnam and raised in Nashik before shifting to Bangalore at the age of 13 to train at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy. She currently trains at the Yadav Pro Badminton Academy in Bangalore under her coach Jagadish Yadav, former Indian men’s doubles player.

Shikha holds the rare distinction of being the youngest Indian badminton athlete to participate in Junior Badminton Asia Championship. She was only 13 when she represented India at the 2011 Asian Junior Badminton Championships in Lucknow, India. Shikha further represented her country at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships in the year 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Shikha Gautam also competed at the 2016 BWF World Junior Championships in Bilbao, Spain. In the 2016 Premier Badminton League, Shikha was part of the winning Delhi Dashers Team.[3]

In 2017, Shikha won women’s singles title at the Mauritius International and finished runners up at the India International Series held in Hyderabad. Until 2017, Shikha was a specialized singles player. It was only at the Senior National Championship in 2017, she realized her potential as a doubles player when she won the Silver medal in women’s doubles at the National Championship held in Patna, Bihar. Following the success, she started playing in Doubles event regularly although singles remained her primary focus. In 2019, at the National Championship in Guwahati, Assam, Shikha entered in women’s doubles event along with her childhood friend Ashwini Bhat as a scratch combination and surprisingly the duo went on to clinch the title.[4][5] The triumph at the national championship compelled Shikha Gautam to divert her focus to Doubles.

Shikha at the Maldives International 2019 Medal Ceremony

Along with her doubles partner Ashwini Bhat, Shikha has been consistently ranked number one in India for more than a year now. Shikha, along with her doubles partner Ashwini Bhat, won a Bronze Medal at the 2019 Polish International and the 2019 Maldives International. [6][7]

Shikha, with her partner Ashwini Bhat, after winning Bronze Medal at Polish International 2019

Shikha won the Gold medal at the Khelo India Youth Games 2020 and is also a recipient of Karnataka Olympic Award.

Shikha Gautam receiving State Olympic Award from the then Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah

Achievements

BWF International Challenge/Series

Women's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2017 India International Series Tanishq Mamilla Palli 21–17, 20–22, 18–21 Runner-up
2017 Mauritius International Anura Prabhudesai 21–8, 17–21, 21–19 Winner
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament
  BWF Future Series tournament

Women's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2019 Polish International Ashwini Bhat Freja Ravn
Amalie Magelund		 8-21, 12-21 Semi Finals
2019 Maldives International Ashwini Bhat Sayaka Hobara
Natsuki Sone		 16–21, 3-21 Semi Finals
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament
  BWF Future Series tournament

References
  1. "Players: Shikha Gautam". bwfbadminton.com. Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  2. "Participants: Shikha Rajesh Gautam". indiatoday.in. India Today. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  3. "Delhi-acers". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  4. "83rd-senior-badminton-nationals". thehindu. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  5. https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/winners.aspx?id=C2C743CD-7743-4FCB-9E43-FD3DAAEB500B
  6. "Participants: Shikha Rajesh Gautam". www.bwfcorporate.com. Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  7. "Participants: Shikha Rajesh Gautam". www.bwfcorporate.com. Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 15 April 2020.


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