Shikha Gautam

Shikha Rajesh Gautam (born 18 April 1998) is an Indian badminton player who represents the country at the International badminton circuit in Women’s Doubles.[1] She has won many National and International Medals. KOA awardee by Government of Karnataka in 2016. A member of the Indian squad at the 2019 Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in Hong Kong, Shikha is current National champion and is ranked no. 1 Women's Doubles player in India.[2] Part of Indian National Badminton team. She’s recipient of Ekalavya Award by Government of Karnataka in 2022.

Shikha Gautam
Personal information
Birth nameShikha Rajesh Gautam
CountryIndia
Born (1998-04-18) 18 April 1998
Visakhapatnam, India
ResidenceBangalore
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight55 kg (121 lb)
HandednessRight
Women's singles & doubles
Highest ranking148 (WS 24 September 2019)
33 (WD 20 December 2022)
Current ranking35 (WD 21 February 2023)
Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing  India
Asia Mixed Team Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Dubai Mixed team
BWF profile

Currently a member of the Indian squad at the 2023 Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in Dubai

In 2022 she won Bronze medal at BWF Orleans masters super 100. Went on Winning Gold medal at Infosys India International. She also won Silver Medal at 36th National Games at Surat.

Career
Shikha at the 2019 Maldives International podium

A child prodigy, Shikha was born in Visakhapatnam and raised in Nashik before shifting to Bangalore at the age of 13 to train at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy. She currently trains at the Yadav Pro Badminton Academy in Bangalore under her coach Jagadish Yadav, former Indian men’s doubles player.

Shikha holds the rare distinction of being the youngest Indian badminton athlete to participate in Junior Badminton Asia Championship. She was only 13 when she represented India at the 2011 Asian Junior Badminton Championships in Lucknow, India. Shikha further represented her country at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships in the year 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Shikha Gautam also competed at the 2016 BWF World Junior Championships in Bilbao, Spain. In the 2016 Premier Badminton League, Shikha was part of the winning Delhi Dashers Team.[3]

In 2017, Shikha won women’s singles title at the Mauritius International and finished runners up at the India International Series held in Hyderabad. Until 2017, Shikha was a specialized singles player. It was only at the Senior National Championship in 2017, she realized her potential as a doubles player when she won the Silver medal in women’s doubles at the National Championship held in Patna, Bihar. Following the success, she started playing in Doubles event regularly although singles remained her primary focus. In 2019, at the National Championship in Guwahati, Assam, Shikha entered in women’s doubles event along with her childhood friend Ashwini Bhat as a scratch combination and surprisingly the duo went on to clinch the title.[4][5] The triumph at the national championship compelled Shikha Gautam to divert her focus to Doubles.

Along with her doubles partner Ashwini Bhat K., Shikha has been consistently ranked number one in India for more than a year now. Shikha, along with Ashwini, won a bronze medal at the 2019 Polish International and the 2019 Maldives International.[6][7]

Shikha, with her partner Ashwini Bhat K., after winning bronze at 2019 Polish International

Shikha won the Gold medal at the Khelo India Youth Games 2020 and is also a recipient of Karnataka Olympic Award.

Shikha Gautam receiving State Olympic Award from the then-Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah

• In 2021, Shikha Participated in All England Badminton Championships in Women’s Doubles.

• Went on playing Badminton Asia individual championships in Manila 2022.

• Pre quarter finalists - Debut in BWF World Championships at Tokyo,Japan 2022.

• Shikha Gautam along with her WD partner Ashwini bhat won Silver Medal at 36th National Games at Surat in 2022

Achievements

BWF International Challenge/Series (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Women's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2017 Mauritius International India Anura Prabhudesai 21–8, 17–21, 21–19 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2017 India International India Tanishq Mamilla Palli 21–17, 20–22, 18–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up

Women's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2022 India International India Ashwini Bhat K. India Arul Bala Radhakrishnan
India Varshini Viswanath Sri		 21–16, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament
  BWF Future Series tournament

References
  1. "Players: Shikha Gautam". bwfbadminton.com. Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  2. "Participants: Shikha Rajesh Gautam". indiatoday.in. India Today. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  3. "Delhi-acers". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  4. "83rd-senior-badminton-nationals". thehindu. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  5. https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/winners.aspx?id=C2C743CD-7743-4FCB-9E43-FD3DAAEB500B
  6. "Participants: Shikha Rajesh Gautam". www.bwfcorporate.com. Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  7. "Participants: Shikha Rajesh Gautam". www.bwfcorporate.com. Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
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