U. Vimal Kumar
Personal information
CountryIndia
Born (1962-11-19) 19 November 1962 (age 61)
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight78 kg (172 lb)
HandednessRight
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  India
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 1986 Seoul Men's team
BWF profile

U. Vimal Kumar is an Indian former badminton player. He won the Indian National title consecutively for two years, 1988 and 1989.[1][2] He also served as Chief National Coach of India.[3] He is the Co Founder, Director and Chief Coach in Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy.[4] He was awarded the Dronacharya Award in 2019.[5] He was the bronze medalist in badminton at the 1986 Asian Games in the Men's team event.

Career

During his career he won French Open in 1983 & 1984 and Welsh International Open in 1988 & 1991. Vimal also represented India at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, and was ranked within the top 20 in the world. He was the National chief coach of the Indian badminton squad for several years. He quit the post in 2006 to concentrate on coaching youngsters at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy.[6] Now, he is currently coaching star player Saina Nehwal in Bangalore.He also coaches Parupalli Kashyap. Malayalam film actor Kalidas Jayaram is his nephew.

Achievements

IBF International

Men's singles
Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
1983 French Open West Germany Jürgen Gebhardt 15–5, 15–1 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
1984 French Open Pakistan Tariq Farooq 10–15, 15–6, 15–2 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
1987 Bells Open Denmark Torben Carlsen 15–6, 5–15, 9–15 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
1987 Welsh International 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
1990 Strasbourg International 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
1990 Welsh International Canada Iain Sydie 15–11, 15–5 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
1991 Strasbourg International 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner

References

  1. ^ Men's Singles National Champions
  2. ^ "Senior Nationals winners list". Badmintion.in. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Top shuttlers lack drive, says coach". The Tribune. 13 August 2003. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  4. ^ "Management". Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Vimal Kumar - The Drona who trained some of the top stars of Indian badminton". Kalyan Ashok. The Bridge. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Vimal Kumar quits". The Hindu. 25 April 2006. Archived from the original on 20 August 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2009.

External links


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