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Who is Kiran George, the shuttler who defeated WR 9 Shi Yuqi?

Kiran George is an Indian badminton player who trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy. He was born on 11th February 2000.

By Soumya | Jun 2, 2023 | 3 Min Read

The entire shuttling world was stunned when a young 23-year-old from India stunned the current World no. 9 Shi Yuqi. The headlines of the Thailand Open definitely belonged to George, the Odisha Open 2022 winner. Shi Yu Qi, the 2018 World Championships silver medallist, started the match strongly, racing to a 10-3 lead. George kept chipping at Yu Qi’s lead to stay in the game before going on a five-point run to take an 18-16 lead himself. Yu Qi fought back to tie the scores at 18-18 but George kept his cool to secure the first game 21-18.

George carried the momentum into the second game to take a 6-0 and then an 11-10 lead. The pair swapped the leads after the mid-game break. But it was the former world No 2 who pulled ahead and brought up two game points at 20-17. However, George once again went on a superb five-point run to clinch the match 21-18, 22-20. The Indian, ranked world No 59, had a look of disbelief on his face as Yu Qi hit the shuttle into the net to hand him the win. George was a totally new player in the circuit. He had to reach the ranks through Qualifying rounds during which he defeated another tough opponent from Korea Hyeok Jin Jeon.

Who is Kiran George?

Kiran George is an Indian badminton player who trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy. He was born on 11th February 2000. George has won the Polish Open title in the past. In the finals, he faced Lee Chia Hao from Taiwan. The young shuttler had a very dominant performance as he defeated the Taiwanese badminton shuttler in straight sets. Added to this impressive performance George was also a part of the 2020 Thomas Cup team and 2022 Badminton Asia Team Championships. Parallely, Kiran has also excelled in the domestic circuit. He won the 2022 Odisha Open against his fellow compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat.

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Kiran played his first tournament played in 2021 when he competed in the Orleans Masters. However, he lost the championship to Brice Leverdez in the 3rd round. In September, Kiran played in the Polish International where he won the tournament beating Jason Teh in the finals winning his first ever tournament since the Ghana International in 2019. He also reached the semis of the Welsh International but lost to Siril Verma.

Kiran started the year 2022 by playing in 3 BWF world tour tournaments including the India Open Which he lost the first round and the Syed Modi International which he also lost the first round and the Odisha Open which he won the title beating Priyanshu Rajawat to win his first ever BWF World Tour title. He competed at the 2022 Badminton Asia Team Championships but was eliminated in the group stage. First, he lost to Korean Kim Joo-wan by the score of 18-21 and 14-21 then he lost to Hong Kong’s Chan Yin Chak with the score of 13-21,21-17 and 9-21 and finally Ikhsan Rumbay with the score of 13-21, 21-17 and 10-21. In 2023, his recent success is reaching the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open. After all the performances that he has given, India is hopeful to win a medal from this promising talent.

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