Saina Nehwal tied the knot with fellow badminton player Parupalli Kashyap on December 14 in a close private ceremony. The Olympic-bronze medallist shuttler and her husband managed to keep away from the prying eyes of media. Saina broke the news to millions of her fans on Instagram, describing her marriage to P Kashyap as the ‘best match of her life.’ The duo had been in a relationship for a really long time and would often be seen together at public spots fuelling rumours that they were dating. Saina Nehwal and P Kashyap Are Just Married! See First Wedding Pic of the Indian Badminton Couple.
Both Saina Nehwal and P Kashyap have been the torchbearers for badminton in India and their union, and their reception is likely to take place on December 16 in Hyderabad. But these two are not the only couple who found love while playing the same sport. In addition to these two badminton stars, there have been instances in the past where athletes from same sports like Sakshi Malik and Satyawart Kadian (wrestling) and Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari (archers) have got hitched/engaged to one another.
But first, see the pic of Saina Nehwal and P Kashyap post-wedding!
Geeta Phogat and Pawan Kumar
Delhi based wrestler Pawan Kumar got married to the eldest of Phogat sisters Geeta Phogat in Charkhi Dadri last year with several stars like Aamir Khan and Sakshi Tanwar in attendance. The two athletes got the entire village of Balali in a frenzy with their big occasion and police had a tough time dealing with crowd trouble. Other wrestlers like Sakshi Malik and Sushil Kumar were also in attendance to wish the couple who immediately went back to training post their marriage.
Sakshi Malik and Satyawart Kadian
Sakshi Malik, the first female wrestler, to win an Olympic bronze medal got married to Satyawart Kadian in Rohtak in 2017. Satyawart Kadian who has won a bronze medal in the 2010 Youth Olympics and silver in the 2014 Commonwealth Games first met Sakshi at this mega event in Glasgow. According to her father Sukhbir Malik, it was a love cum arranged marriage between the two stars who have won several laurels for India.
Jwala Gutta and Chetan Anand
Jwala Gutta made quite a few headlines when she married fellow badminton player and Arjuna awardee Chetan Anand back in 2005. The marriage did not work out, and the two got separated in 2010 which was particularly disheartening for their fans. The divorce got a lot of media coverage exploring different angles about the possible cause of separation.
Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari
When it comes to archery in India, Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari are two frontrunners in terms of popularity and the duo got engaged a few days back. They plan to marry in November next year as sports commitments are likely going to keep them busy over the next few months. Both are battling poor form off-late, and it will be interesting to see if their fortunes change after the engagement.
These were some of the interesting stories of athletes belonging to the same sports settling down with each other which in turn generates a lot of buzz and media frenzy.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 15, 2018 01:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).