Rajiv Kumar "Raju" Rai (born February 3, 1983, in

Lawrenceville, Georgia Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is a suburb of Atlanta, located approximately northeast of downtown. As of the 2020 census, the population of Lawrenceville was 30,629. In 2019, t ...

) is an American badminton player of Indian descent. He won a bronze medal, along with his partner

Mesinee Mangkalakiri Mesinee "May" Mangkalakiri ( th, เมษิณี มังคละคีรี; ; born April 21, 1983, in Los Alamitos, California) is an American badminton player of Thai descent. She won a bronze medal, along with her partner Raju Rai, in ...

, in the mixed doubles at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Al ...

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

. Rai is also a member of Orange County Badminton Club in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

, and is coached and trained by former Olympic doubles champion

Tony Gunawan Tony Gunawan (; born 9 April 1975) is an Indonesian-born American former badminton player. He gained several international achievements for Indonesia and later for the United States, including Olympic gold medal and world champion title. Career ...

(2000), who is currently playing for the United States. Rai qualified for the

men's singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

at the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, after he was ranked sixty-eighth in the world, and awarded an entry as one of the top 38 seeded players by the

Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) with nine member ...

. He received a bye for the second preliminary round before losing out to Finland's

Ville Lång Ville Lång (born 14 February 1985) is a badminton player from Finland. He won ten consecutive Finland's National Championship men's singles title in 2005–2014, and 3 men's doubles title in 2010, 2011, and 2017. In 2003, he won bronze at the ...

, with a score of 9–21 and 16–21. Rai is a former coach of Bellevue Badminton Club, and also, an athlete director for the U.S. national badminton team. He, along with fellow Olympian

Bob Malaythong Khan "Bob" Malaythong (born 10 April 1981 in Vientiane, Laos) is an American badminton player. He qualified for the U.S. badminton team as a doubles competitor at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Malaythong moved to the United States at age 8. Malayt ...

, currently coaches the top junior players in the United States at Synergy Badminton Academy in

Menlo Park, California Menlo Park is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County within the San Francisco Bay Area of California in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the so ...

Achievements

Pan American Games

''Mixed doubles''

Pan Am Championships

''Men's singles'' ''Men's doubles''

BWF Grand Prix

The BWF Grand Prix has two level such as Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments, sanctioned by

(BWF) since 2007. ''Men's doubles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament :

BWF Grand Prix BWF may refer to: Sports organisations Badminton * Badminton World Federation, an international governing body for badminton Professional wrestling * Brazilian Wrestling Federation, a Brazilian Professional wrestling promotion. * British Wrestling ...

tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series

''Men's singles'' ''Men'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 The Badminton ...

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

tournament

References

External links

* *
NBC 2008 Olympics profile
1983 births Living people American sportspeople of Indian descent Sportspeople from Lawrenceville, Georgia American male badminton players Badminton players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players for the United States Badminton players at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games {{US-badminton-bio-stub