50 Facts About Jwala Gutta

Jwala Gutta was born on 7 September 1983 and is an Indian badminton player.

Jwala Gutta is known for her skilled left-handed stroke-play and is one of the very few doubles players to use a forehand service.

Jwala Gutta has won numerous medals for Indian badminton including the bronze medal 2011 BWF World Championships in London and a gold and silver at 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games respectively in the women's doubles event which were the first for the country in the discipline.

Jwala Gutta 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.

Jwala Gutta has won medals at all major international badminton tournaments and multi-sport events, except for the Olympics.

Jwala Gutta has been listed several times among the top most inspiring sportswomen of India.

Jwala Gutta was awarded the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting award for her achievements.

Jwala Gutta told ESPN that she was contemplating retirement, after entering negotiations for a coaching role for BAI in May 2017.

Jwala Gutta was born on 7 September 1983 in Wardha, Maharashtra and brought up in Hyderabad, Telangana, to a Chinese mother and a Telugu father.

Jwala Gutta's mother, Yelan Gutta, was born in China and is a granddaughter of a Gandhian named Zeng.

Jwala Gutta was introduced to the national badminton coach S M Arif, by her father at the age of four.

Jwala Gutta later started training under Arif, at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium.

In 2000, Jwala Gutta won the Junior National Badminton Championship.

Jwala 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.

Jwala Gutta is considered very dangerous in the front court with her good reading of the game and sharp interceptions.

Jwala Gutta has a strong smash from the back court and often makes use of deceptive drops.

Jwala Gutta is vulnerable in a few areas of her game, most evidently in her movement across the court.

Jwala Gutta can commit certain unforced errors when forced to move out of her favoured positions.

Jwala Gutta has had some fitness issues and injury troubles in her long career.

Jwala Gutta is 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.

Jwala Gutta partnered Shruti Kurien-Kanetkar during the early part of her career for the women's doubles competition.

Apart from these achievements, Jwala Gutta won the Nepal International Series tournament 2008 and Yonex Dutch Open Grand Prix 2008 in the Women's Doubles category.

Jwala Gutta then paired up with young Ashwini Ponnappa from Bangalore who was called up for the national camp just before the Commonwealth Games.

Jwala Gutta 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.

Jwala Gutta pairing with Ashwini Ponappa lost their opening women's doubles match against the Japanese duo of Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa.

In January 2013, Jwala Gutta announced her comeback to the game and partnered Prajakta Sawant since Ponnappa was partnering with Pradnya Gadre 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.

Jwala Gutta was one of the six marquee players and team captains to be auctioned.

Jwala Gutta was bought for US$31,000 and captained the Delhi franchise, but the team did not reach the semis and finished fifth.

Jwala Gutta went on to add that the two decided to come together because of a couple of reasons.

In May, Jwala Gutta played for India at the 2015 Sudirman Cup as they were placed in group 1D, clubbed together with three-time winner Korea and Malaysia.

Jwala Gutta expressed her concerns for lack of support for doubles in the country and prompted the association and the government to promote doubles.

Jwala Gutta began her 2016 with the Premier Badminton League, where she represented Hyderbad Hunters alongside Lee Chong Wei and Parupalli Kashyap.

Jwala Gutta played in the mixed doubles alongside Indonesian Markis Kido and Danish Carsten Mogensen.

Jwala 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.

In March 2016, Jwala Gutta announced a comeback to the mixed category.

Jwala Gutta stated in her interview that she missed the titles she "used to win with V Diju".

Jwala Gutta's divorce gained unwanted media attention and speculation arose about an affair with ex-cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin which was never confirmed due to lack of any proof and constant denials from Gutta herself.

Jwala Gutta has supported some social causes, including women empowerment issues, anti-tobacco and anti-zoo campaigns.

Jwala Gutta has been involved in many other campaigns including the Ice Bucket Challenge, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

Jwala Gutta launched the Indian Badminton League's school programme 'Shuttle Express' in Pune for school children.

Jwala Gutta has been listed as the most inspirational sportswomen from India on numerous occasions.

Jwala Gutta said she is targeted because she speaks her mind.

Jwala Gutta is a celebrity endorser and has been associated with several brands and services, appearing on the covers of numerous magazines.

In January 2020, Jwala Gutta taunted Saina Nehwal for joining the current ruling party BJP, however Twitter users criticized her comment.

Jwala Gutta was then served a 14-day showcause notice by BAI for her conduct during the tie, which was delayed by half an hour.

Jwala Gutta's 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.

Jwala Gutta said that the BAI had repeatedly insulted the player who has brought laurels to the country.

Jwala Gutta warned the Sports Ministry be fair to Gutta or lose funding.

The impasse was reported to have ended in New Delhi when Jwala Gutta met BAI president Akhilesh Das after the 78th Senior National Championships where she had emerged as the doubles champion alongside Ponnappa.

In 2011, Jwala Gutta was awarded the Arjuna award by the Indian Government, India's second highest sporting honour for her achievements as a badminton player.