Raju Rai

Rajiv Kumar Rai (born February 3, 1983) 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]

Rajiv Kumar Rai
Personal information
Birth name	Rajiv Kumar Rai
Country	United States
Born	(1983-02-03) February 3, 1983 (age 41) Lawrenceville, Georgia, United States
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Handedness	Right
Coach	Tony Gunawan
Medal record Men's badminton Representing  United States Pan American Games 2003 Santo Domingo Mixed doubles Pan Am Championships 2005 Bridgetown Men's doubles 2005 Bridgetown Mixed team 2005 Bridgetown Men's singles
BWF profile

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 coaches 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	Mesinee Mangkalakiri	Philippe Bourret Denyse Julien	8–15, 7–15	Bronze

Pan Am Championships

Men's singles

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

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2005	Bridgetown, Barbados	Bob Malaythong	Mike Beres 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	Halim Haryanto	Howard Bach Bob Malaythong	14–21, 19–21	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	Alexandre Paixão	13–21, 14–21	Runner-up
2008	Giraldilla International	Yuhan Tan	19–21, 19–21	Runner-up
2007	Hellas International	Marc Zwiebler	14–21, 16–21	Runner-up
2007	Carebaco International	Brice Leverdez	12–21, 17–21	Runner-up
2004	Carebaco International	Andrew Dabeka	9–15, 7–15	Runner-up

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2005	Southern Carolina International	Bob Malaythong	Howard Bach Tony Gunawan	0–1 Retired	Runner-up
2004	Carebaco International	Bob Malaythong	Alexandre Tremblay Tom Lucas Picher	15–5, 15–7	Winner
2004	New Zealand International	Bob Malaythong	Shuichi Nakao Shuichi Sakamoto	3–15, 15–10, 12–15	Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2005	Southern Carolina International	Mesinee Mangkalakiri	Philippe Bourret Denyse Julien	6–15, 9–15	Runner-up

  BWF International Challenge tournament

  BWF International Series tournament

  BWF Future Series tournament

References

1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Raju Rai". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
2. "USA Badminton Announces New Board of Directors". Team USA. April 14, 2009. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
3. Rao, Sam (August 5, 2008). "Another Indian-American books berth". The Indian Express. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
4. "Men's Singles Round of 32". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on August 21, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
5. Miller, Jeff (August 11, 2008). "O.C. badminton drought continues with Rai loss". The Orange County Register. Retrieved February 23, 2013.

External links

• Raju Rai at Team USA (archived)
• Raju Rai at Olympics.com
• NBC 2008 Olympics profile