Hyderabad shuttlers Arjun and Achutaditya shine with 4 international badminton medals
Hyderabad shuttlers Arjun Reddy and Achutaditya Rao won four international medals — gold in Mexico, silver in Trinidad & Tobago and Zambia, and bronze in South Africa. For Arjun, it marked a triumphant return to professional badminton after a decade-long break
Hyderabad: Hyderabad-based shuttlers P Arjun Reddy and D Achutaditya Rao put up a fine show, winning four international medals — gold in Mexico, silver in Trinidad & Tobago and Zambia, and bronze in South Africa — in the last two months.
For the 43-year-old Arjun Reddy, it was a triumphant return to professional badminton after a 10-year break, in the company of his young 23-year-old partner Achutaditya Rao.
Arjun, who previously partnered and played alongside top Indian stars such as Chetan Anand, Arvind Bhatt, Anoop Sridhar, Diju, Sanave Thomas and Roopesh, had famously won the Morocco Open in 2013, merely three months before retiring. He quit the sport at his peak to manage his family’s construction enterprise (Silpa Homes Pvt Ltd) and later co-founded an education mentoring venture (Gradvine Advisors).
Driven by his passion to nurture new talent, Arjun now runs A Zone Sports, one of Hyderabad’s biggest badminton academies, where he trains under Indonesian coach Namrih to prepare for his international comeback.
“I am happy to become the first Indian to win four consecutive international medals after returning to the sport. This journey has reinforced my belief that passion and devotion can help us achieve bigger things. I will continue to work harder and make India proud,” Arjun Reddy said.
