Punjab has emerged. Jalandhar-based youngster Viraj Sharma has set a new record by attaining the rank of India’s No. 1 badminton player in Under-17 Boys category. Finally, the young boy, who has worked sincerely and scored big in the first 10-11 years of his life, fulfilled the dream. On Monday, the national rankings announced, this boy Viraj has secured first place in the country.
The Path of Hard Work
Viraj’s story is truly inspirational. He picked up his first badminton racquet at the age of 6.
His parents, Rahul Sharma and Sanjita Sharma say that he got up at 4 am every morning for his morning practice. Whole day they used to go from his school and training and practice.
His initial coaching was from Coach Parveen Kumar at DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jalandhar. Coach Parveen Kumar sent him to Rise Sports School Noida at the age of 11 to acquire professional coaching. He came to spotlight when he bagged Silver Medal in the U-17 Singles Final at the 37th Sub-Junior National Badminton Championship in Bhubaneswar in December 2025.
Training at Big Academy
He was sponsored by the Infosys Foundation for his national victory. Presently he is being trained at Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru. He is also considered under the Khelo India Scheme, which will provide him with a significant support for international competitions. “We just want to watch Viraj perform well in international tournaments in the next few years,” said his father Rahul Sharma, who owns a sanitary hardware business in Jalandhar.
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Bhagwant Mann Wishes More Success
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann congratulated Young Viraj Sharma for the achievement and prayed for more success. In his message, CM Mann said that Viraj has brought pride to Jalandhar and Punjab. His government is dedicated to promote young talent and offer the state of art sports amenities to the youth of Punjab. “We need to bring Viraj into the Indian camp and train him so that he can win medals for India at the international level” CM Mann. “Viraj is a future star of Indian badminton and I am sure he will win medals for India at the international level,” he added.
Proud Moment for Punjab Badminton
Talking to mediapersons, Punjab Badminton Association secretary Ritin Khanna said it was a milestone and Punjab has been churning out champions one after the other. Tanvi Sharma of Ludhiana is currently India No. 1 in a different category and recently Wazir Sharma of Ludhiana became India No. 1 in U-15. Other No 1s are Inayat Gulati and Jagsher Khangurra.
