Ashwini Ponappa (image credits: p9ashwini/instagram)

Badminton Stats: Indians who have won Canada open

July 5, 2023July 5, 2023 Soumya

The Canada Open in badminton is an international open held in Canada since 1957. The tournament is traditionally held every year in September. However, for the 2023 edition, the tournament will be held in the month of July. Earlier the tournament used to take place along with Canada National Championships.

In 1957 the Canadian Badminton Federation decided to open the Canadian National Championships and they were combined with the Canadian Open until 1961. In 1962 they were divided and held as separate tournaments. The championships were held as Canadian International in 2008 and 2009. The tournament earlier was a Bwf Super 300 tournament. From 2023 onwards, this will be a Super 500 tournament. This tournament has a long lineage and history. The 2023 edition will be the 58th edition of the tournament.

Who are some of the famous Indians to win the tournament?

1. Ashwini Ponappa (Event-Women’s doubles, Year-2015)

Ashwini Ponappa became the Canada Open champion in 2015 by defeating Efje Muskens & Selena Piek of the Netherlands, 21-19 & 21-16. She paired up with Jwala Gutta in 2015 to defeat the Dutch team. However, this was her only podium in the tournament till now. Nevertheless, due to her impeccable professional badminton career, she features in this list. She had a successful partnership with Jwala Gutta as the pair has won many medals in international events including a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and bronze medals at the Uber Cup and the Asian Badminton Championships. Perhaps one of the fabulous records that Ashwini has till now was at the South Asian Games. The ace Indian shuttler has won the competition on multiple occasions.

2. Jwala Gutta (Event-Women’s doubles, Year-2015)

Ashwini’s partner in crime who won the Canada Open along with her was Jwala Gutta. Jwala Gutta is an Indian badminton 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 disciplines—the most by any Indian—and 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. Gutta has won numerous medals for Indian badminton which includes bronze at the BWF Worl Championships (2011), Commonwealth Games (2014), and bronze in Uber Cup (2014 & 2016).

A fourteen-time National Champion, Gutta played with Shruti Kurien earlier in her career. However, she found greater international success with Ashwini Ponnappa. The pair consistently figured among the top twenty in the BWF World Ranking reaching as high as no. 10 in 2015. Gutta is the first badminton player from India to qualify for two events in the Olympics–women’s doubles with Ponnappa and mixed doubles with V. Diju in London. Gutta is also known for her skilled left-handed stroke play and is one of the very few doubles players to use a forehand service. 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.

3. B. Sai Praneeth (Event- Men’s Singles, Year- 2016)

B. Sai Praneeth became the Canada Open champion in 2016 by defeating Lee Hyun-Il of South Korea, 21-12 & 21-10. The Indian shuttler won the contest without breaking much sweat. This was however the first podium for the Indian shuttler in this tournament till now. Bhamidipati Sai Praneeth is an Indian badminton player who became the first Indian male shuttler in 36 years to win a bronze medal in the BWF World Championships in 2019 after Prakash Padukone in 1983. Besides this, he also won Bronze medals in the Asia Team Championships in Hyderabad and Manila.

Who are the Indians to win the Canada Open?

Year	Champion	Category
2015	Jwala Gutta & Ashwini Ponappa	Women’s doubles
2016	B. Sai Praneeth	Men’s singles
2016	Manu Attri & B. Sumeeth Reddy	Women’s doubles