Raju Rai

Raju Rai
Personal information
Birth name Rajiv Kumar Rai
Country  United States
Born (1983-02-03) 3 February 1983
Lawrenceville, Georgia
Residence Irving, California
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 80 kg (180 lb)
Handedness Right
Coach Tony Gunawan
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  United States
Pan American Games
2003 Santo DomingoMixed doubles
Pan Am Championships
2005 BridgetownMen's doubles
2005 BridgetownMixed team
2005 BridgetownMen's singles
BWF profile

Rajiv Kumar "Raju" Rai (born February 3, 1983 in Lawrenceville, Georgia) is an American badminton player of Indian descent.[1] He won a bronze medal, along with his partner Mesinee Mangkalakiri, in the mixed doubles at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.[2] Rai is also a member of Orange County Badminton Club in Anaheim, California, and is coached and trained by former Olympic doubles champion Tony Gunawan (2000), who is currently playing for the United States.[3]

Rai qualified for the men's singles at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, after he was ranked sixty-eighth in the world, and awarded an entry as one of the top 38 seeded players by the Badminton World Federation. He received a bye for the second preliminary round before losing out to Finland's Ville Lång, with a score of 9–21 and 16–21.[4][5]

Rai is a former coach of Bellevue Badminton Club, and also, an athlete director for the U.S. national badminton team.[2] He, along with fellow Olympian Bob Malaythong, currently coach the top junior players in the United States at Synergy Badminton Academy in Menlo Park, California.

Achievements

Pan American Games

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2003 UASD Pavilion,
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic		 United States Mesinee Mangkalakiri Canada Philippe Bourret
Canada Denyse Julien		 8–15, 7–15 Bronze

Pan Am Championships

Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2005 Bridgetown, Barbados Canada Andrew Dabeka 2–15, 9–15 Bronze

Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2005 Bridgetown, Barbados United States Bob Malaythong Canada Mike Beres
Canada William Milroy		 11–15, 15–8, 15–6 Gold

BWF Grand Prix

The BWF Grand Prix has two level such as Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007.

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2008 U.S Open United States Halim Haryanto United States Howard Bach
United States Bob Malaythong		 14–21, 19–21 2nd, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
     BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
     BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2008 Nigeria International Portugal Alexandre Paixão 13–21, 14–21 2nd, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2008 Giraldilla International Belgium Yuhan Tan 19–21, 19–21 2nd, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2007 Hellas International Germany Marc Zwiebler 14–21, 16–21 2nd, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2007 Carebaco International France Brice Leverdez 12–21, 17–21 2nd, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2004 Carebaco International Canada Andrew Dabeka 9–15, 7–15 2nd, silver medalist(s) Runner-up

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2005 Southern Carolina International United States Bob Malaythong United States Howard Bach
United States Tony Gunawan		 0–1 Retired 2nd, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2004 Carebaco International United States Bob Malaythong Canada Alexandre Tremblay
Canada Tom Lucas Picher		 15–5, 15–7 1st, gold medalist(s) Winner
2004 New Zealand International United States Bob Malaythong Japan Shuichi Nakao
Japan Shuichi Sakamoto		 3–15, 15–10, 12–15 2nd, silver medalist(s) Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2005 Southern Carolina International United States Mesinee Mangkalakiri Canada Philippe Bourret
Canada Denyse Julien		 6–15, 9–15 2nd, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
     BWF International Challenge tournament
     BWF International Series tournament
     BWF Future Series tournament

References

  1. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill. "Raju Rai". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  2. 1 2 "USA Badminton Announces New Board of Directors". Team USA. 14 April 2009. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  3. ↑ Rao, Sam (5 August 2008). "Another Indian-American books berth". The Indian Express. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  4. ↑ "Men's Singles Round of 32". NBC Olympics. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  5. ↑ Miller, Jeff (11 August 2008). "O.C. badminton drought continues with Rai loss". The Orange County Register. Retrieved 23 February 2013.


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