At the 2012 Olympic Games, Parupalli Kashyap conquered the imagination of the entire country when he became the first Indian to reach the quarter-finals of the men’s singles badminton.

Kashyap, born in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, turned 34 on Tuesday. His parents enrolled him in a training camp when he was 11. 

However, the shuttler faced a major setback in his career when he was diagnosed with asthma, in 2004. But with sheer willpower and proper medication, Kashyap overcame the condition and was taken in by Pullela Gopichand. 

Since then he has championed the cause of spreading awareness on asthma. 

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Hats off to @priyankachopra for opening up about asthma & encouraging more people to open up against the stigma surrounding the condition. I have had asthma since I was a teenager. At the age of 14 while I was training in Bangalore, I kept on falling sick every 2-3 weeks with a cough, cold & fever. This kept occurring every 2-3 weeks & was really difficult to deal with since it was hampering my training & routine. I had to go see a doctor. The general physician did not suggest that I go see a chest physician. Since this kept on occurring, like a cycle, I thought it was the air & weather in Bangalore that wasn't right for me & I shifted to Hyderabad. On seeing a general physician there, he asked me to see a chest physician who diagnosed me with asthma. I was given proper medication, such as inhalers, I noticed an instant change in my lifestyle. I was suddenly fitter, faster & healthier. Within 6 months, I won the junior nationals & was selected to join the Indian badminton team. One when I was in Malaysia for a tournament (hosted in a small dusty village). I had passed the first round of the tournament. During the 2nd round, I was winning when suddenly I began to feel dizzy, disoriented & couldn't breathe. I was scared. My coaching team was taken aback as they didn't understand what was wrong. I wanted to pull out of the match but somehow I powered through but ended up losing the game. Post the game I went to see the doctor again who told me that I needed to update my asthma medication. Due to the dust and conditions in Malaysia my ongoing medication was not effective enough & it affected me. This is just one story where asthma has affected my routine & more importantly, my game. But I have overcome the situation eventually and gone on to do better. I would like to call out to all the asthmatics & tell them that it IS NOT a condition that stops you from living life. It's just a speed bump which can easily be surpassed if taken care of correctly. I would like to ask @ssarakhan @priyadarshini.96 @nehwalsaina to share their stories or stories of asthmatics they know. I also want all of you reading my story to share your stories using #OpenUpToAsthma.

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In 2010, he represented India at the Commonwealth Games, where he won the bronze medal in the singles and a silver medal in the mixed team event. 

After his feat in the 2012 Olympics, the badminton ace was awarded the Arjuna award in the same year. But his best was yet to come.

Kashyap’s golden chapter was written when he won the gold medal in the men’s singles at the Commonwealth Games in 2014. He cruised into the finals at Glasgow and defeated Derek Wong of Singapore. 

The ace shuttler’s hopes of grabbing an Olympic medal was crushed when he had to pull out of the 2016 Rio Olympics due to a surgery in his right knee just before the Games. 

Since then injuries have quite often hampered his outings.

In 2018, the Kashyap tied the knot with his long-time love interest and the apple of Indian-badminton-fanatic’s eye, Saina Nehwal. Through coaching Saina, Kashyap reinvented his love for the sport during his own career lows. 

“When I was training her and sitting for her matches, I also wanted to play the tournament. I thought I don’t just want to be a coach here.

“That helped me come back. I got motivated to train again and everything fell in place. Coaching her helped me and it helped her,” Kashyap revealed in an interview with the Olympic Channel. 

Saina, who first meet Kashyap in a badminton coaching camp in 1997, took to Instagram to wish her husband on his birthday. 

Earlier this year, Kashyap had questioned the SAI’s (Sports Authority of India) decision of his omission from the national badminton camp in Hyderabad and said he still has an ‘outside chance’ to get into the plane for Tokyo Olympics.