Jwala Gutta (badminton)
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Jwala Gutta (born 7 September 1983) is an Indian
badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...
player. Beginning in the late 1990s, she represented India at international events in both mixed and women's doubles. She has a total of 316 match wins in both the disciplinesthe most by any Indianand peaked at no. 6 in the world rankings. Gutta has won medals at numerous tournaments on the BWF circuit including a silver at the 2009 Superseries Masters Finals and a bronze at the 2011 World Championships. Born in
Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The administrative headquarter of Wardha district is situated here. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows on the northern, western ...
to a Chinese mother and a
Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...
father, she began playing badminton at a young age. A fourteen-time National Champion, Gutta played with Shruti Kurien earlier in her career, but found greater international success with
Ashwini Ponnappa Ashwini Ponnappa Machimanda (born 18 September 1989) is an Indian badminton player who represents the country at the international badminton circuit in both the women's and mixed doubles disciplines. She had a successful partnership with Jwal ...
. The pair consistently figured among the top-twenty in the
BWF World Ranking The BWF World Ranking is the official ranking of the Badminton World Federation for badminton players who participate in tournaments sanctioned by Badminton World Federation. It is used to determine the qualification for the BWF World Championships ...
reaching as high as no. 10 in 2015. Gutta is the first badminton player of Indian origin to qualify for two events in the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
women's doubles with Ponnappa and mixed doubles with V. Diju at
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Gutta is known for her skilled left-handed stroke-play and is one of the very few doubles players to use a forehand service. Gutta has won numerous medals for Indian badminton including the bronze medal
2011 BWF World Championships The 2011 BWF World Championships was the 19th tournament of the World Badminton Championships, a global tournament in the sport of badminton. It was held at Wembley Arena in London, England, from August 8 to August 14, 2011. China clean swept al ...
in London and a gold and silver at 2010 and 2014
Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...
respectively in the women's doubles event which were the first for the country in the discipline. Other achievements include the historic bronze medal at the
2014 Thomas & Uber Cup The 2014 Thomas & Uber Cup was the 28th tournament of the Thomas Cup and 25th tournament of the Uber Cup, the badminton team championships for men and women respectively. It was held on 18–25 May 2014 at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Del ...
held at
New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
, a bronze medal at
Badminton Asia Championships The Badminton Asia Championships (formerly Asian Badminton Championships until 2006) is a tournament organized by governing body Badminton Asia to crown the best badminton players in Asia. The tournament started in 1962 The year saw the C ...
in the same year and final and semi-final appearances in many big international events most notably the finals appearance at the
2009 BWF Super Series Masters Finals The 2009 BWF Super Series Masters Finals was a top level badminton competition which was held from December 2 to December 6, 2009, in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The final was held by Badminton Association of Malaysia. It was the final event of the BW ...
, alongside Diju which was the first for the country in any discipline. Gutta has been credited to have brought recognition for doubles badminton in India, first with her mixed doubles partner Diju with whom she peaked at no. 6 in 2010 becoming the first doubles partnership from the country to be ranked among the top-10 and later with her partnership with Ponnappa in women's doubles. She paired with Ponappa at the Rio 2016 Olympics where the pair crashed out in the group stage with two consecutive losses at the hands of opponents from Japan and Netherlands. Gutta has won medals at all major international badminton tournaments and multi-sport events, except for the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
. In addition to her badminton career, Gutta has been vociferous for the issues she advocates for, ranging from fair treatment in sports, health and education, women's empowerment and gender equality. She has been listed several times among the top most inspiring sportswomen of India. She was awarded the
Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...
, India's second highest sporting award for her achievements. Gutta was married to badminton player Chetan Anand from 2005 to 2011. She told
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
that she was contemplating retirement, after entering negotiations for a coaching role for BAI in May 2017.


Early life and junior career

Jwala Gutta was born on 7 September 1983 in
Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The administrative headquarter of Wardha district is situated here. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows on the northern, western ...
,
Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
and brought up in
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
,
Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...
, to a
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
mother and a
Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...
father. Jwala's father, Kranti Gutta, hailed from a family of
Leftists Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
from Peddapuliveru in
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
's
Guntur Guntur (), natively spelt as Gunturu, is a city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district. The city is part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is lo ...
district. Her mother, Yelan Gutta, was born in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and is a granddaughter of a
Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi,one of the prominent figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environ ...
named Zeng. Yelan first came to India in 1977 with her grandfather to visit the
Sevagram Sevagram (meaning "A town for/of service") is a town in the state of Maharashtra, India. It was the place of Mahatma Gandhi's ashram and his residence from 1936 to his death in 1948. After Sabarmati, Sevagram Ashram holds immense importance d ...
ashram, where she translated Gandhi's autobiography and other works into the
Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...
. Gutta has a younger sister, Insi Gutta. Initially inclined towards playing tennis, Gutta shifted to badminton at the insistence of her mother. She was introduced to the national badminton coach S. M. Arif, by her father at the age of four. Arif recommended her to learn gymnastics or swimming for a couple of years before starting training for badminton. Gutta later started training under Arif, at the
Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium may refer to: * Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, a multi-purpose stadium in Hyderabad, India * Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Kollam, a multi-purpose stadium in Kollam, India {{disambiguation ...
. Gutta started playing badminton at the age of six. Her chief achievement as a youngster was to win the Under-13 Girls Mini National Badminton Championship held at Thrissur, Kerala. In 2000, Gutta (aged 17) won the Junior National Badminton Championship. The same year, she also won the Women's Doubles Junior National Championship and the Senior National Badminton Championship, both in partnership with Shruti Kurien. This association was to last several years, and the pairing of Gutta and Shruti Kurien won the Women's Doubles National title for seven years in succession, from 2002 to 2008.


Playing style

Gutta likes playing aggressive badminton and has a great affinity for the front court, with her skilled netplay, good anticipation and the ability to play deceptive strokes at the net. She is considered very dangerous in the front court with her good reading of the game and sharp interceptions. She also has a strong smash from the back court and often makes use of deceptive drops. Gutta is vulnerable in a few areas of her game, most evidently in her movement across the court. She can commit certain unforced errors when forced to move out of her favoured positions. She has also had some fitness issues and injury troubles in her long career. Gutta is also known for being one of the only top doubles player to still use the forehand service, since most other doubles specialists opt for the safer backhand serve. She stands unique in this aspect.


Performance in women's doubles


Early years: 2002–09

Gutta partnered
Shruti Kurien-Kanetkar Shruti Kurien (born 28 March 1983) is an Indian badminton player. She along with partner Jwala Gutta won the National women's doubles championship in 2000 and 2002–2008. She was the gold medalists at the 2004, 2006 and 2010 South Asian Games ...
during the early part of her career for the women's doubles competition. The duo reached the semi-final round of their second international tournament itself, the India Asia Satellite tournament 2002. They also reached the semi-final round of the same tournament in the year 2004, and finished runner-up at the Le Volant d'Or Tournament, known as Toulouse Open the same year. Further, she reached the Final Rounds of the Scottish International tournament 2004 and 40th Portuguese Badminton Championship 2004. In the year 2006, she won the Sri Lanka International Satellite tournament; while in the year 2007, she won the Cyprus Badminton International tournament. The same year, she also won at the Pakistan International Challenge tournament and the Indian International Challenge tournament. Apart from these achievements, Gutta won the Nepal International Series tournament 2008 and Yonex Dutch Open Grand Prix 2008 in the Women's Doubles category.


2010: Commonwealth Gold and breakthrough

Gutta then split with her longtime partner Shruti Kurien due to compatibility issues. She then paired up with young
Ashwini Ponnappa Ashwini Ponnappa Machimanda (born 18 September 1989) is an Indian badminton player who represents the country at the international badminton circuit in both the women's and mixed doubles disciplines. She had a successful partnership with Jwal ...
from Bangalore who was called up for the national camp just before the Commonwealth Games. She and Ponnappa then went on to win the sensational gold medal in the women's doubles at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games making history of winning the first gold medal for India in the event. They beat much higher ranked Singaporean pair of
Shinta Mulia Sari Shinta Mulia Sari (born 14 June 1988) is an Indonesian-born Singaporean former badminton player. She represented Singapore in the 2012 Summer Olympics, in the women's doubles with Yao Lei. She and Yao reached the quarter-finals of the 2014 Commo ...
and Yao Lei in the finals 21–15, 21–19 in front of the cheering home crowd and set the stadium ablaze with their win. Gutta and Ponnappa then became household names after winning the medal in front of home crowd. Since, their Gold Medal effort at the games they brought women's doubles into limelight in the country. After the win Gutta at a press conference stated, "It's unbelievable. I think it was long pending for me. I am quite emotional. The feeling is yet to sink in. Ashwini played exceptionally well and we hope to continue the good work, I want to dedicate the medal to my family who stood by me, my coaches, especially SM Arif, Atik Jauhari and all the team members, Gopi. I owe this medal to all who helped me," and added that "This medal will silence my critics. This is my answer to them to whatever happened. I am very happy and everyone who has negative thoughts about me, I would like to say just shut-up now,"


2011: World Championships bronze

In 2011, they came up with one of their finest performances when the pair etched their names in history books becoming the first Indian pair to ensure a medal at the World Badminton Championships. The pair defeated 12th seeds Vita Marrisa and Nadya Melati of Indonesia 17–21, 21–10, 21–17 to storm into the women's doubles semifinal before losing out to the Chinese fifth seeds in the semi-finals in London, thereby winning a bronze in the Badminton World Championship. They had previously beaten
Poon Lok Yan Isis Poon Lok Yan (, born 22 August 1991) is a badminton player from Hong Kong, now representing Australia. She competed at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in women's doubles event. Together with Tse Ying Suet, she has received her best comp ...
and
Tse Ying Suet Tse Ying Suet (, born 9 November 1991) is a Hong Kong badminton player. She was a gold medalist in the 2025 Asian Championships, a silver medalist in the 2018 Asian Games, and two-time bronze medalists in the World Championships. Tse is a four ...
of
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
19–21, 21–17, 21–19 in Round of 16. Also, in the second round they had caused a big upset by beating the 2nd seeds and former World Num 1s. Cheng Wen-hsing Chien Yu-chin of
Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...
21–18 21–18. In a 2016 report published by ''Sportskeeda'', the feat was ranked as the fifth greatest achievement of Indian badminton.


2012: London Olympics

She played women's doubles as well as mixed doubles at the 2012 London Olympics becoming the first and the only Indian to qualify in two events in the entire history of the game. Gutta pairing with Ashwini Ponappa lost their opening women's doubles match against the Japanese duo of Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa. They then went on to beat the much higher ranked Cheng Wen-hsing and Chien Yu-chin of Chinese Taipei 25–23, 16–21, 21–18 to register their first win in the group stages. Gutta and Ashwini missed out on a quarterfinal berth by a difference of just one point, even though they beat
Shinta Mulia Sari Shinta Mulia Sari (born 14 June 1988) is an Indonesian-born Singaporean former badminton player. She represented Singapore in the 2012 Summer Olympics, in the women's doubles with Yao Lei. She and Yao reached the quarter-finals of the 2014 Commo ...
and Lei Yao of Singapore 21–16 21–15 in their last group B match, after tying with Japan and Taipei on the number of wins. Prior to India's final group game on Tuesday night, the World number five Japanese pair of Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa had shockingly lost to Chinese Taipei's Cheng Wen Hsing and Chien Yu Chin, ranked 10th, 19–21 11–21. India lodged a formal protest with the Games organisers to probe if the women's doubles badminton match involving Japan and Chinese Taipei was played in the right spirit, following the elimination of medal hopes Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa but no action was taken. Following the Olympic Games, Gutta went to a temporary sabbatical from the game.


2013: Comeback and IBL

In January 2013, Gutta announced her comeback to the game and partnered
Prajakta Sawant Prajakta Sawant (born 28 October 1992) is a badminton player from India. She was the national women's doubles champion in 2010 and 2011 and also won the mixed doubles title in 2010. In 2013, she won the Bangladesh International tournament partn ...
since Ponnappa was partnering with
Pradnya Gadre Pradnya Gadre (born 17 October 1990) is an Indian badminton player from Nashik, Maharashtra who currently plays doubles and mixed doubles. She partners Ashwini Ponnappa for women's doubles events. The other partners she earlier paired up for wo ...
and had committed to continue her partnership with Gadre so went on play with Sawant, who at that time was going through a battle against national coach
Pullela Gopichand Pullela Gopichand (born 16 November 1973) is an Indian former badminton player. Currently, he is the Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001, becoming the second ...
.
Indian Badminton League Premier Badminton League, aka PBL, is a team badminton league operating in India. It was launched in 2016 and is one of the top badminton leagues in the world. It features nine state or city-based franchise teams and the top Indian and interna ...
(IBL) was announced the same year. IBL was a franchise league commercially managed by an Indian sports rights management company, Sporty Solutionz as commercial partners. With the brand value of US$1 million, Indian Badminton League was the richest badminton league in the world. Gutta was one of the six marquee players and team captains to be auctioned. The auction itself was not short of controversy. The base price of Gutta and
Ashwini Ponnappa Ashwini Ponnappa Machimanda (born 18 September 1989) is an Indian badminton player who represents the country at the international badminton circuit in both the women's and mixed doubles disciplines. She had a successful partnership with Jwal ...
was halved from US$50,000 to US$25,000, without the players' notice and Women's Doubles event was replaced by a second Men's Singles. This left both Gutta and Ashwini hurt and angry. Gutta was bought for US$31,000 and captained the Delhi franchise, but the team did not reach the semis and finished fifth. Gutta and Ponnappa after IBL confirmed on that they were set to reunite. Gutta went on to add that the two decided to come together because of a couple of reasons. The first was the Indian Badminton League's organisers knocking out the women's doubles category from the tournament, which in turn resulted in the base prices of Gutta and Ashwini.


2014: Asian and Uber Cup bronze, CWG silver

In 2014 Gutta and Ashwini won the bronze medal at
Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics and wate ...
in April defeating 3rd seeded Thai pair of
Kunchala Voravichitchaikul Kunchala Voravichitchaikul (; born 14 November 1984) is an internationally elite badminton player from Thailand. She competed at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 Asian Games. Kunchala Voravichitchaikul is a doubles specialist who is paired with Duangano ...
and
Duanganong Aroonkesorn Duanganong Aroonkesorn (; born 6 February 1984) is an internationally elite badminton player from Thailand. She competed at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 Asian Games. Aroonkesorn is a women's doubles specialist who is paired with Kunchala Voravichitcha ...
21–11, 21–18 en route losing out to Chinese twins
Luo Ying Luo Ying (; born 11 January 1991) is a Chinese badminton player. She specializes in doubles and partnered with her twin sister, Luo Yu. The twins competed at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics but did not advance to the knock-out stage after placing ...
and
Luo Yu Luo Yu (; born 11 January 1991) is a Chinese badminton player who specializes in doubles. Together with her twin sister, Luo Ying, they competed in the international badminton, and were ranked as World number 1 on 10 March 2016. The twins part ...
at the semi-final stage. The pair played a key role in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
's historic Bronze at the Uber Cup in New Delhi. The duo unleashed a giant-killing spree as they had to face much higher ranked opponents in most of their matches and they won each, their biggest win came when outplayed the World No. 9 team of
Greysia Polii Greysia Polii (; born 11 August 1987) is an Indonesian badminton player specializing in doubles. She won gold medals in the women's doubles at the 2014 Asian Games, at the 2019 SEA Games and at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She also won three bro ...
and
Nitya Krishinda Maheswari Nitya Krishinda Maheswari Korwa (born 16 December 1988) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with Jaya Raya Jakarta and current coach in Indonesia national badminton team, specializing in doubles event. She won the women's doubles gold m ...
21–18, 21–18 from
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
in the first doubles match of the tie. The win took India to the semis for the first time in
Uber Cup The Uber Cup, sometimes called the World Women's Team Championships, is a major international badminton competition contested by women's national badminton teams. First held in 1956–1957 and contested at three year intervals, it has been contes ...
history and assured them of the bronze medal. They later participated at the
2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...
and narrowly missed the podium finish in the team event came up with the silver medal at the games losing put to Malaysian pair of
Vivian Hoo Vivian Hoo Kah Mun (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Hí Kâ-vùn''; born 19 March 1990) is a Malaysian former badminton player. She is the elder sister of Hoo Pang Ron, who is also a Malaysian badminton player. Career Teamed-up with Woon Khe Wei in th ...
and
Woon Khe Wei Janice Woon Khe Wei (born 18 March 1989) is a Malaysian former badminton player in the doubles event. Career Her regular partner was Vivian Hoo. Together, they had ranked as high as No. 9 worldwide. They won the gold medal at the 2014 Comm ...
in a closely contested final. The Indian pair lost the first game 17–21, before going down in a well-fought second game. Gutta and Ponnappa had taken the lead and looked good to take the match into the deciding third game. It was their second medal at the games after the 2010 Gold.


2015: Canada GP title and top-10 ranking

Gutta and Ashwini kick-started 2015 with a semi-final appearance at 2015 India Open Grand Prix Gold held at
Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...
. They next appeared in the prestigious
All England Open The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the BWF's latest grading system, it was given Super Series status in 2007, upgraded to Super Series Premie ...
reached the 2nd round losing out to the top seeds
Tian Qing Tian Qing (; born 19 August 1986) is a Chinese badminton player specializing in doubles. Career Tian Qing started to practice badminton with her father Tian Jianyi who also a badminton coach in Anhua Sports School at aged 7. In 1998, she mov ...
and
Zhao Yunlei Zhao Yunlei (born 25 August 1986) is a mixed and women's doubles badminton player from China. She graduated with a BA from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. She is the first and only badminton player to have ever won two gold medal ...
in straight games. The pair of Gutta and Ponnappa also re-entered the Top-20 rankings after All England. In May, Gutta played for
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
at the
2015 Sudirman Cup The 2015 Sudirman Cup was the fourteenth tournament of the Sudirman Cup. It was held in Dongguan, China. Host city selection Dongguan is the only city to submit a bid for 2015 Sudirman Cup. Badminton World Federation awarded the event to Dongguan ...
as they were placed in group 1D, clubbed together with three-time winner
Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
and
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
. The Malaysian team was buoyed by the return of former world no. 1
Lee Chong Wei Lee Chong Wei (; born 21 October 1982) is a Malaysian former professional badminton player. As a singles player, Lee was ranked first worldwide for 349 weeks, including a 199-week streak from 21 August 2008 to 14 June 2012. He is the fifth ...
from a dope-related suspension and that made things difficult for India. India started with a narrow 2–3 loss to Malaysia
Saina Nehwal Saina Nehwal (; born 17 March 1990) is an Indian badminton player. A former world no. 1, she has won 24 international titles, which includes ten Superseries titles. Although she reached the world's 2nd in 2009, it was only in 2015 that she was ...
and the duo of Gutta and Ponnappa delivered the wins. Gutta and Ashwini stole the show with their determined efforts that saw them upsetting the world no. 11 pair of
Vivian Hoo Vivian Hoo Kah Mun (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Hí Kâ-vùn''; born 19 March 1990) is a Malaysian former badminton player. She is the elder sister of Hoo Pang Ron, who is also a Malaysian badminton player. Career Teamed-up with Woon Khe Wei in th ...
and
Woon Khe Wei Janice Woon Khe Wei (born 18 March 1989) is a Malaysian former badminton player in the doubles event. Career Her regular partner was Vivian Hoo. Together, they had ranked as high as No. 9 worldwide. They won the gold medal at the 2014 Comm ...
21–18, 19–21, 21–15. After the narrow defeat against
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
, India needed to win the tie v Korea to progress into the quarter-finals.
Parupalli Kashyap Parupalli Kashyap (born 8 September 1986) is an Indian former badminton player. A former World No. 6, he is a coach at Gopichand Badminton Academy. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2012. He became the first male player from India to reac ...
and the men's doubles pair of
Pranav Chopra Pranaav Jerry Chopra (born 6 September 1992) is an Indian badminton player. He joined the India national badminton team in 2007. In the year 2018, at the Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Queensland, he won the gold medal in mixed team as ...
and
Akshay Dewalkar Akshay Dewalkar (born 2 July 1988) is an Indian badminton player. He was the men's doubles National Champion together with Pranav Chopra in 2013 and 2015. Dewalkar was the men's team gold medalists at the 2006 and 2016 South Asian Games, also ...
lost both their matches the onus was once again on Gutta and Ponnappa. They fought hard but it was not enough to topple the Koreans. Chang Ye Na and
Jung Kyung-eun Jung Kyung-eun (; or ; born 20 March 1990) is a South Korean professional badminton player. She was the 2016 Summer Olympics bronze medalist in the women's doubles event. Career Jung Kyung-eun began her career competing in singles, but now ...
won the contest 18–21, 21–12, 21–12 to seal a 3–1 victory for Korea. With defeats in both the rubbers India failed to make the quarter-finals. Gutta and Ashwini then participated in the 2015 U.S. Open Grand Prix Gold and the pair seeded 4th reached the semi-finals losing out to Japanese pair of Ayane Kurihara and Naru Shinoya 17–21, 11–21. En route to semis they did not lose a single game and defeated Turkish pair of
Neslihan Yiğit Neslihan is a Turkish feminine given name that means 'noble'. Notable people with the name include: * Neslihan Arın (born 1994), Turkish badminton player * Neslihan Atagül Neslihan Atagül (born 20 August 1992) is a Turkish people, Turkish ...
and
Özge Bayrak Özge Bayrak (born 14 February 1992) is a Turkish badminton player. She is coached by Çağatay Taşdemir at Egospor club of Ankara Metropolis Municipality. Currently, she is studying at Aksaray University. She competed at various international ...
21–10, 21–18 and in the quarter-finals defeated German seventh seeds Johanna Goliszewski and Carla Nelte 21–17, 21–14. The pair next participated in the 2015 Canada Open Grand Prix and seeded third went on to win the title defeating top seeded Dutch pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek 21–19, 21–16. It was the pairs first title since coming back together after the
2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. The win was commended by the Indian media as the duo were the only women's doubles pair from the country to win a Grand Prix title. Gutta expressed her concerns for lack of support for doubles in the country and prompted the association and the government to promote doubles. Gutta told ''
NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. It was founded in 1984 by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy. NDTV began as a production house for news segments, ...
'' in an interview, "We though big wins would wake up concerned people but it hasn't happened yet. We are still confident of representing India at an international level but here, extra support is needed as we can't afford it on our own. Continuing their good form Gutta and Ponnappa reached the quarter-final stage of the
2015 BWF World Championships The 2015 BWF World Championships was a badminton tournament which was held from 10 to 16 August 2015 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Host city selection Jakarta and Kunshan submitted bids to host the championships. Jakarta was awarded to host the event by ...
. The pair received a bye in the first round and defeated Hsieh Pei-chen and Wu Ti-jung of Chinese Taipei in straight sets. In the last 16 clash the pair stunned world no. 6 pair of
Reika Kakiiwa is a Japanese badminton player from Renesas badminton club. Reika Kakiiwa has gained prominence in the badminton community because of her success in women's doubles. She has reached a career high ranking of third in the world with her partner M ...
and
Miyuki Maeda is a Japanese international badminton player from the Renesas badminton club and later affiliated with Saishunkan team. She participated at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, and also in three Asian Games editions from 2006 to 2014. Career Maed ...
from Japan 21–15, 18–21, 21–19. The pair missed out on the bronze medal after losing out to another Japanese pair of Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao. The quarter-final finish at the World Championships helped Gutta and Ponnappa jump 2 places in the
BWF World Ranking The BWF World Ranking is the official ranking of the Badminton World Federation for badminton players who participate in tournaments sanctioned by Badminton World Federation. It is used to determine the qualification for the BWF World Championships ...
, and they entered the top 10 for the first time in their career. With this Gutta thus became the first player to be ranked in the Top-10 of the world rankings in both the doubles category.


2016: PBL & Second Uber Cup Bronze

Gutta began her 2016 with the
Premier Badminton League Premier Badminton League, aka PBL, is a team badminton league operating in India. It was launched in 2016 and is one of the top badminton leagues in the world. It features nine state or city-based franchise teams and the top Indian and interna ...
, where she represented Hyderabad Hunters alongside
Lee Chong Wei Lee Chong Wei (; born 21 October 1982) is a Malaysian former professional badminton player. As a singles player, Lee was ranked first worldwide for 349 weeks, including a 199-week streak from 21 August 2008 to 14 June 2012. He is the fifth ...
and
Parupalli Kashyap Parupalli Kashyap (born 8 September 1986) is an Indian former badminton player. A former World No. 6, he is a coach at Gopichand Badminton Academy. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2012. He became the first male player from India to reac ...
. She played in the mixed doubles alongside Indonesian
Markis Kido Markis Kido (11 August 1984 – 14 June 2021) was an Indonesian badminton player specializing in men's doubles. As a former world number 1, he won the discipline's gold medal at the 2006 Badminton World Cup, 2006 World Cup, 2007 BWF World Cham ...
and Danish
Carsten Mogensen Carsten Mogensen (born 24 July 1983) is a former badminton player from Denmark. He was the gold medalist at the Badminton at the 2015 European Games, 2015 European Games, two time European Badminton Championships, European champions winning in 2 ...
. The team couldn't qualify for the knock-out stage, finishing fifth in the standings. In May, Gutta was part of the Indian team for the
2016 Thomas & Uber Cup The 2016 Thomas & Uber Cup was the 29th tournament of the Thomas Cup and 26th tournament of the Uber Cup, the premier badminton team championships for men and women respectively. It was held at the Kunshan Sports Centre in Kunshan, Jiangsu Provinc ...
held at
Kunshan Kunshan is a county-level city in southeastern Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu province with Shanghai bordering its eastern border and Suzhou on its western boundary. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suzhou. Name Th ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. The Indian women's team was put into Group- D alongside
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. The India team beat Germany and Australia 5–0 before losing out to Japan to finish second in the group. In the quarter-finals they came back from a 0–1 deficit after
Saina Nehwal Saina Nehwal (; born 17 March 1990) is an Indian badminton player. A former world no. 1, she has won 24 international titles, which includes ten Superseries titles. Although she reached the world's 2nd in 2009, it was only in 2015 that she was ...
lost the first singles to beat Thailand 3–1. Gutta and Ponnappa won their match in straight sets to secure a semifinal berth and the team's second consecutive bronze medal. The Indian team was however beaten by eventual champions
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
in the semifinal stage.


Performance in mixed doubles


Early years

Gutta has won titles in the Jakarta Satellite tournament and Welsh International tournament in the year 2005, Sri Lanka International Satellite tournament, Cyprus Badminton International tournament and Indian International Challenge tournament in the year 2007, and Nepal International Series tournament, Bitburger Open Grand Prix tournament and KLRC Bulgaria Open Grand Prix tournament in the year 2008.


Success and top-10 breakthrough

Their breakthrough came when Gutta and her partner
Valiyaveetil Diju Valiyaveetil Diju (born 4 January 1981), also known as V. Diju, is an Indian badminton player from Kozhikode, Kerala. He clinched six National Championships title, once in the men's doubles and five times in the mixed doubles. He represented Ind ...
became the first Indian badminton mixed doubles pair to win a Grand Prix Gold title. They defeated Indonesia's
Hendra Aprida Gunawan Hendra Aprida Gunawan (born 6 April 1982) is a badminton player from Indonesia who affiliated with the SGS PLN Bandung. Career Gunawan competes in men's doubles with Joko Riyadi. They were bronze medalists at the 2005 Asian Badminton Champion ...
and
Vita Marissa Vita Marissa (born 4 January 1981) is an Indonesian retired badminton player. Career Marissa competed in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in mixed doubles with partner Nova Widianto. They had a bye in the first round and defeated Robert ...
24–22, 21–18 in the
Chinese Taipei Open The Taipei Open (), formerly named the Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold (2007–2017) and Chinese Taipei Open (2018–2019), is an open badminton international championships held in Taiwan since the 1970s, but they took place only in irregula ...
final. In the quarterfinal, the world No. 7 pair and third seed in the tournament, defeated Korean pair
Shin Baek-cheol Shin Baek-cheol (; born 19 October 1989) is a mixed and men's doubles badminton player from South Korea. He is a World, Asian and World Junior Champions, as well a gold medalists in the Asian Games and Summer Universiade. Career Shin starte ...
and Yoo Hyun-Young and in the semi-final Diju and Gutta prevailed over Malaysians
Goh Liu Ying Goh Liu Ying (; born 30 May 1989) is a Malaysian former badminton player. She had been consistently ranked among the top 10 mixed doubles player in the world with her partner, Chan Peng Soon. Together, they were ranked as high as world No. ...
and
Chan Peng Soon Chan Peng Soon (born 27 April 1988) is a Malaysian former badminton player specialised in the mixed doubles event. He has had a partnership with Goh Liu Ying where they have been consistently ranked among the top 10 mixed doubles pair in th ...
21–11, 17–21, 24–22. But the biggest achievement came in the same year where she and Diju again reached the quarters of the
2009 BWF World Championships The 2009 BWF World Championships was the 17th tournament of the World Badminton Championships, a global tournament in the sport of badminton. It was held at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, from 10–16 Augus ...
and became the first Indians to do so repeating the feat at The Championships the following year. The Championships were held at
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
, India. The duo, seeded 8th, got a bye in the first round followed by a walkover in the second. In the third round they defeated 12th seed Polish pair of
Robert Mateusiak Robert Bogumił Mateusiak (born 13 January 1976) is a Polish retired badminton player. Career Łogosz and Mateusiak won bronze medals at the European Championships in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006. Partnered with Nadieżda Zięba in the mixed d ...
and Nadieżda Kostiuczyk 21–11 22–20 in a 31-minute clash. In the quarterfinal they went down to defending champions and second seeds
Nova Widianto Andreas Nova Widianto (born 10 October 1977) is an Indonesian former badminton player, and now works as a mixed doubles badminton coach in Malaysia. After ended his duty as an Indonesian mixed doubles national coach, he moved to Malaysia joining ...
and
Liliyana Natsir Liliyana Natsir (born 9 September 1985) is an Indonesian badminton player who specialized in doubles. She is one of the standout front court player, with dexterousness and skill in controlling and executing the shuttlecock. Natsir has tremendous ...
of Indonesia. The Indian pair was beaten 16–21, 14–21 in 27 minutes. The same year they went on to reach the finals of the BWF Super Series Masters Finals, an annual tournament held at the end of every year where only the top players with the most points from that calendar year's twelve events of the
BWF Super Series The BWF Super Series was a series of Badminton World Federation#Grade 2, Grade 2 badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It was launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007 in badminton, 2007. Since 2011, ...
compete. They beat Robert Mateusiak and Nadieżda Kostiuczyk again in straight-games 21–19 21–11. In the final the Indian pair went down to World Championship bronze medallists
Christinna Pedersen Christinna Pedersen (born 12 May 1986) is a Danish badminton player. Career Christinna Pedersen is a right-handed doubles specialist. From 2008 onwards, Pedersen paired with Joachim Fischer Nielsen in mixed doubles. The pair gained two Euro ...
and
Joachim Fischer Nielsen Joachim Fischer Nielsen (born 23 November 1978) is a Danish retired badminton player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won the bronze medal in the mixed doubles with teammate Christinna Pedersen. He retired from the international tournament in th ...
from Denmark 21–14, 21–18. By reaching the tournament finals they became the first Indians to reach the feat in any of the 5 disciplines. In 2010 the pair reached the quarter-finals of the
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
for the second consecutive year beaten by Koreans
Ha Jung-eun Ha Jung-eun (; born 26 April 1987) is a women's and mixed doubles badminton player from South Korea. Ha was competed at the 2006, 2010 Asian Games, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. Together with the Korean national women's team, they won the Ube ...
and
Ko Sung-hyun Ko Sung-hyun (; ; born 21 May 1987) is a South Korean badminton player affiliated with Gimcheon City Hall. He is a former world number 1 both in the men's and mixed doubles. Ko is a BWF World Championships, BWF World Champion, two time Badminto ...
21–16, 21–19 having beaten the English pair of
Gabrielle White Gabrielle Marie Adcock (née White; born 30 September 1990) is an English retired badminton player. Career Gabby started playing badminton aged 10 in the badminton club at her school and became a full-time player straight from school at 16. S ...
and
Chris Adcock Christopher Thomas Adcock (born 27 April 1989) is a retired English badminton player. Adcock is currently sponsored by Yonex and YC Sports and plays for the University of Nottingham-based NBL team. He entered the National team in 2006, and late ...
and Malaysians Liu Ying and Peng Soon in straight games and overcoming
Yao Lei Yao Lei (born 24 February 1990) is a Singaporean former badminton player. Early life In 2003, as a 13-year-old Yao emigrated to Singapore under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme. Her parents Yao Yiping and Gu Xiaojing were both former internat ...
and
Chayut Triyachart Chayut Triyachart (born 9 October 1989) is a Thai-born Singaporean former badminton player. At the Commonwealth Games, he won a silver medal in the 2014 men's doubles, and two bronze medals in the 2014 mixed team and 2010 mixed doubles. In J ...
from Indonesia in the pre-quarters in three games. The pair also won the 2010 India Open Grand Prix Gold for their second Grand Prix Gold title beating Lei and Triyachart in three games. In 2011 Gutta and Diju reached the quarter-finals or better at three tournaments including two Super Series Premieres events at
Denmark Open The Denmark Open, or formerly known as Danish Open, is an annual badminton tournament held in Denmark and organized by Badminton Denmark. The Denmark Open was part of the BWF Super Series Premier from 2011 to 2017. BWF categorised it as one ...
and
China Masters The China Masters (), formerly known as Fuzhou China Open, is an annual badminton tournament held in China. It became part of the BWF Super Series tournaments in 2007. In 2014 the level of the tournament was downgraded to BWF Grand Prix Gold beca ...
where they reached the semi-finals, their first since 2009. They beat second seeded Chinese pair of
Tao Jiaming Tao Jiaming (; born 25 October 1985) is a badminton player from China. He was the gold medalists at the 2009 East Asian Games in the mixed doubles and men's team events. Tao Jiaming achieved his first major results in 2010 when he reached the m ...
and
Tian Qing Tian Qing (; born 19 August 1986) is a Chinese badminton player specializing in doubles. Career Tian Qing started to practice badminton with her father Tian Jianyi who also a badminton coach in Anhua Sports School at aged 7. In 1998, she mov ...
in the first round 5–21, 21–14, 21–18.


2012 Olympics and sabbatical

Gutta and Diju reached two quarter-finals in 2012 at the Victor Korea Superseries Premier Singapore Open Superseries before competing at
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. Pairing with Diju, Gutta lost her opening match 16–21, 12–21 in just 25 minutes at the Wembley Arena in London Olympics. The pair also lost their next two matches and thus could not qualify for the knockout stage. Despite having enjoyed great success in the Mixed Doubles category, she has shifted her focus on to Women's Doubles event since her sabbatical. In March 2016, Gutta announced a comeback to the mixed category. She stated in her interview that she missed the titles she "used to win with V Diju". She confirmed that she would not play alongside Diju but was a looking for a suitable partner and would start playing in April.


2016: Comeback to mixed doubles

In an interview in August 2016, Gutta shared her plans of returning to the mixed doubles competition, without disclosing a probable partner.


Personal life and other works

During her badminton career, Gutta began dating fellow badminton player Chetan Anand. The couple married on 17 July 2005 and got divorced on 29 June 2011. Her divorce gained unwanted media attention and speculation arose about an affair with ex-cricketer
Mohammad Azharuddin Mohammad Azharuddin (born 8 February 1963) is an Indian politician and a former cricketer who also served as the Indian national cricket team's captain. He was a right-handed middle order batter and an occasional medium fast bowler. He playe ...
which was never confirmed due to lack of any proof and constant denials from Gutta herself. Azharuddin confirmed filing his divorce but denied that it had anything to do with Gutta. Azhar had also hinted that these stories had been planted by people in the Badminton Association of India, who wanted to tarnish his image since he tried to contest for the presidents' elections. He said, "These are planted stories and motivated by people, who are against me in the
Badminton Association of India Badminton Association of India, is the governing body of badminton in India. The association, which was formed in 1934, is registered under the societies act. The body has been hosting annual Indian National Badminton Championships, national-l ...
. They are so upsetting." In 2013, Gutta said in an interview, "I learnt a lot from the marriage but we weren't growing as a couple. A part of me forgot that I too was a part of the sport. I was satisfied thinking that his victories were our victories." Gutta has supported some social causes, including women empowerment issues, anti-tobacco and anti-zoo campaigns. She has also been involved in many other campaigns including the
Ice Bucket Challenge The Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is an activity involving the pouring of a bucket of ice water over a person's head, either by another person or self-administered, to promote awareness of the disease amyo ...
,
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission is a country-wide campaign initiated by the Government of India on 2 October 2014 to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management and to create Open Defec ...
. Gutta also launched the
Indian Badminton League Premier Badminton League, aka PBL, is a team badminton league operating in India. It was launched in 2016 and is one of the top badminton leagues in the world. It features nine state or city-based franchise teams and the top Indian and interna ...
's (IBL) school programme 'Shuttle Express' in Pune for school children. Speaking during the briefing, Gutta said: "I am really happy to be here with the kids who are playing not only to win the Shuttle Express but to be the next badminton champion for India. Wishing everyone all the best and I know the
Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
participants will make everyone proud." In 2013, she made her film debut with a
cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
in a song from the Telugu-language film ''
Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde ''Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde'' () is a 2013 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language romantic comedy film directed by debutant Vijay Kumar Konda and written by Harsha Vardhan. Produced by N. Nikitha Reddy under the banner of Shresht Movies, The ...
.'' Jwala describes herself as
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
. Gutta was reportedly dating Tamil film actor
Vishnu Vishal Vishal Kudawla (born 17 July 1984), known professionally as Vishnu Vishal, is an Indian actor and film producer who appears in Tamil film industry. After a brief career in cricket, he started his acting career in the year 2009 playing the lead ...
. Both of them posted pictures on their social media, confirming the same, for the New Year 2020. On her birthday in 2020, the couple got engaged. They were married on 22 April 2021, in
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. and they had a daughter born in their fifth anniversary.


In the media

Gutta has been listed as the most inspirational sportswomen from India on numerous occasions. Her outspoken nature has often attracted controversies from various groups. According to Gutta, such controversies do not bother her as she had been taught to speak up for whats right and take a stand for herself and others too. "My father (Kranti) told me at a young age to fight for what I believed in. I've never learnt to butter up people," stated Gutta in an interview with
Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...
. "Controversies don't bother me. I'm not the one who instigates them. But when your name gets dragged into it, you can't keep quiet," she said. She said she is targeted because she speaks her mind. S. M. Arif Gutta's coach said, "This girl, she is there with me since she was 4 years old, from that age she is there with me and one thing about her is that she is the laziest person as far as the training is concerned and as far as the court is concerned you keep her for the whole long day and she will be happy, otherwise her genes might be helping her out." Gutta has spoken against body shaming in sports. In an interview she said, "I don't understand this image thing. What's wrong in liking clothes or dressing up? In
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, there is this image that if you dress shabbily, you are a serious sportsperson. If you care about dressing up, you aren't one. People are under the impression I lead an exciting life but honestly, all I do is sleep, eat and practice". Gutta is also a celebrity endorser and has been associated with several brands and services, also appearing on the covers of numerous magazines. In January 2020, Gutta taunted
Saina Nehwal Saina Nehwal (; born 17 March 1990) is an Indian badminton player. A former world no. 1, she has won 24 international titles, which includes ten Superseries titles. Although she reached the world's 2nd in 2009, it was only in 2015 that she was ...
for joining the current ruling party
BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Since 2014, ...
, however Twitter users criticised her comment.


IBL row

A controversy had erupted during the 25 August tie of the
Indian Badminton League Premier Badminton League, aka PBL, is a team badminton league operating in India. It was launched in 2016 and is one of the top badminton leagues in the world. It features nine state or city-based franchise teams and the top Indian and interna ...
when the Delhi Smashers had threatened to pull out from the lot match against Banga Beats over the last-minute replacement of injured
Hu Yun Hu Yun (; born 31 August 1981) is a retired badminton player representing Hong Kong since 2006. He competed at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games, and also 2016 Rio Olympics. Born in Wuhan, Hubei, China, Hu started playing badminton in 1988, and par ...
of
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, with
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
's
Jan Ø. Jørgensen Jan Østergaard Jørgensen (born 31 December 1987) is a Danish retired badminton player who played for SIF (Skovshoved) in the national league. He won the men's singles title at the 2014 European Badminton Championships, 2014 European Championshi ...
. As the team captain for Smashers, Gutta was involved in a lengthy discussion, which was resolved after Beats agreed to drop Jorgensen. Gutta was then served a 14-day showcause notice by BAI for her conduct during the tie, which was delayed by half an hour. In what was dubbed a surprise decision, the
Badminton Association of India Badminton Association of India, is the governing body of badminton in India. The association, which was formed in 1934, is registered under the societies act. The body has been hosting annual Indian National Badminton Championships, national-l ...
's disciplinary committee recommended a life ban on Gutta for the same. BAI president
Akhilesh Das Akhilesh Das Gupta (31 March 1961 – 12 April 2017) was an educationist, professor, and Indian politician. He was the son of Freedom Fighter Babu Banarasi Das, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He was the president of Badminton Associat ...
Gupta had said that if Gutta tenders an unconditional apology, her case may be reconsidered. However, she said that she would not apologise as asked by the BAI. Her camp made note two potential reasons for the harsh stand taken by BAI; first, Gutta had been vocal against the women's doubles event being taken off the competition in IBL, a decision that had created quite a stir before the tournament, and second, the coming together of Gutta and Ponnappa for the women's doubles (who did not train at
Pullela Gopichand Pullela Gopichand (born 16 November 1973) is an Indian former badminton player. Currently, he is the Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001, becoming the second ...
's academy). On the advice of her coach, S. M. Arif, Gutta filed a defamation suit against BAI for going to the press without issuing her a ban notice. "This is cruellest joke on badminton and on a player of Gutta's calibre," Arif said adding that she committed no mistake and hence there is no question of an apology. He said that the BAI had repeatedly insulted the player who has brought laurels to the country. Blaming Gopichand, the chief national coach, for "not supporting her" in the fiasco, Gutta said she tried to resolve the issue by talking to everyone in the administration even before the show cause notice was issued. She spoke with the press saying, "I love to play ..No one on this earth can stop me from playing. In fact, no one should stop anyone from playing. I never thought that they AIwould stoop down to this level." Eventually, the
Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi ( Hindustani: दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय; ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') is the high court in Delhi, India. It was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966. ...
put a stay on BAI's decision to not allow Gutta to play at international tournaments. Justice V.K. Jain told the BAI: "You must allow her to play.". During the controversy Gutta received overwhelming support from fans and fellow sports-persons. Several former players described the
Badminton Association of India Badminton Association of India, is the governing body of badminton in India. The association, which was formed in 1934, is registered under the societies act. The body has been hosting annual Indian National Badminton Championships, national-l ...
disciplinary committee's recommendation of a life ban on the player as "ridiculous" and "harsh". Former national coach U. Vimal Kumar said the HC order has shown Indian badminton in bad light.
S.M. Arif Syed Mohammed Arif (born 29 January 1944), popularly known as Arif Saahab, is an Indian badminton coach. He is a recipient of Dronacharya Award and Padma Shri Award by the Government of India. Early life S. M. Arif is from Hyderabad, Telangana. ...
, was even harsher saying, "The emphasis on her apology rather than the misconduct attributed to her shows clearly that the BAI has gone off the rails," Gutta also received support from Petroleum Minister
Veerappa Moily Marpadi Veerappa Moily (born 12 January 1940) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress from the state of Karnataka. Moily was the former Chief Minister (and the first ethnic Tuluva CM) of the Indian state of Karnataka ...
, who wrote a letter to Sports Minister Jitendra Singh, saying that Gutta was being treated unfairly and if it continued then the Petroleum sector may be forced to reconsider its association with BAI at various levels. He warned the Sports Ministry be fair to Gutta or lose funding. The Sports Minister responded to Moily's letter saying that he would examine her case and extend all the support to her. The long-standing deadlock between Gutta and the Association ended with the national federation dropping all the charges against her. The impasse was reported to have ended in
New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
when Gutta met BAI president Akhilesh Das after the 78th Senior National Championships where she had emerged as the doubles champion alongside Ponnappa. "I am very happy with the decision BAI has taken. I will be playing as a part of the Indian team in future tournaments too. It will be an honour to represent the country as always," Gutta was quoted as saying to the ''
Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
''.


Awards

In 2011, Gutta was awarded the
Arjuna award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...
by the Indian Government, India's second highest sporting honour for her achievements as a badminton player.


Career highlights


BWF World Championships

''Women's doubles''


Commonwealth Games

''Women's doubles''


Asian Championships

''Women's doubles''


South Asian Games

''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''


BWF Superseries

''Mixed doubles'' :
BWF Superseries Finals The BWF Super Series Finals (named as BWF Super Series Masters Finals until 2009) was an annual badminton tournament held at the end of the year where the players with the most points from that calendar year's twelve events of the BWF Super Series ...
tournament : BWF Superseries Premier tournament :
BWF Superseries The BWF Super Series was a series of Grade 2 badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It was launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007. Since 2011, the Super Series includes two levels of tournament, S ...
tournament


BWF Grand Prix

''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''


BWF International Challenge/Series/Satellite

''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' :
BWF International Challenge The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...
tournament :
BWF International Series The BWF International Series is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...
tournament


BWF events


Others


Notes


References


External links

* * * * * (2002–2010) * (2014) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gutta, Jwala 1983 births Living people Indian female badminton players Indian national badminton champions Olympic badminton players for India Badminton players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Asian Games competitors for India Badminton players at the 2010 Asian Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Commonwealth Games gold medallists in badminton Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games silver medallists in badminton Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for India Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in badminton Badminton players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games South Asian Games gold medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2004 South Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 South Asian Games Medalists at the 2016 South Asian Games Recipients of the Arjuna Award People from Wardha Racket sportspeople from Hyderabad, India Sportswomen from Hyderabad, India Sportswomen from Maharashtra Sportspeople of Chinese descent Indian people of Chinese descent 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people