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Valiyaveetil Diju

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Valiyaveetil Diju
5 October 2008
Personal information
Nickname(s)V. Diju
CountryIndia
Born (1981-01-04) 4 January 1981 (age 43)
Ramanattukara, Kozhikode, Kerala, India
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
HandednessRight
Men's & mixed doubles
Highest ranking6 (in XD)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  India
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2010 New Delhi Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Melbourne Mixed team
South Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2006 Colombo Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2006 Colombo Men's team
Gold medal – first place 2010 Dhaka Men's team
Gold medal – first place 2010 Dhaka Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2010 Dhaka Men's doubles
BWF profile

Valiyaveetil Diju (born 4 January 1981), also known as V. Diju, is an Indian badminton player from Kozhikode, Kerala.[1] He clinched six National Championships title, once in the men's doubles and five times in the mixed doubles. He represented India in the 2012 London Olympics, became the first Indian player to participate at the Olympics in the mixed doubles alongside Jwala Gutta. He is the winner of Arjuna Award 2014, given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, government of India to recognize his outstanding achievement in National sports. He is also the winner of G. V. Raja awards, which is the highest government-level recognition for sports persons in Kerala. He is winner of Jimmy George award 2014. He is also winner of Vivekanandha sports excellence award 2014. He won the Youth excellence award also in 2014.He is the only mixed doubles player from India to reach top 10 in the world badminton ranking(BWF) .His highest ranking is number 6th in world ranking.

Career

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Diju started his International career by representing India for Asian junior badminton championship held at Hong Kong in 1997. In 2002, he and Sanave Thomas won the men's doubles title at the Indian National Championships by defeating Jaseel P. Ismail and Jaison Xavier in four games.[2] He won the 2008 Bitburger Open in Germany along with Jwala Gutta. It was India's first mixed-doubles Grand Prix win. Diju is a five-time National mixed-doubles champion. In 2006, he won the mixed team bronze medal in Commonwealth Games at Melbourne. Diju-Gutta pair was runner-up at Indian Open held at Hyderabad in 2009. They lost to Indonesian Flandy Limpele and Vita Marissa in the final.[3]

2009 World Badminton Championship

In August 2009, the Diju-Gutta mixed doubles pair became the first Indians to enter the quarterfinals of World Championship. The Championships was held at Hyderabad, India. The duo, seeded 8th, got a bye in the first round followed by a walkover in the second. In the third round they defeated 12th seed polish pair of Robert Mateusiak and Nadieżda Kostiuczyk 21–11, 22–20 in a 31-minute clash.[4] In the quarter-final they went down to defending champions and second seeds Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia. The Indian pair was beaten 16–21, 14–21 in 27 minutes.[5]

Chinese Taipei Grand Prix

On 30 August 2009, Diju partnering Jwala Gutta became the first Indian badminton mixed doubles pair to win a Grand Prix Gold title. They defeated Indonesia's Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Vita Marissa 24–22, 21–18 in the Chinese Taipei Open final.[6] In the quarter-final, the world No. 7 pair and third seed in the tournament, defeated South Korean pair Shin Baek-cheol and Yoo Hyun-Young and in the semi-final Diju and Gutta prevailed over Malaysians Goh Liu Ying and Chan Peng Soon 21–11, 17–21, 24–22.[7]

Diju with Jwala Gutta
2009 World Super Series Masters

In December 2009, Diju and his doubles partner Gutta reached the World Superseries Masters final in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. They beat Robert Mateusiak and Nadieżda Kostiuczyk of Poland in straight-games 21–19, 21–11.[8] In the final the Indian pair went down to World Championship bronze medalists Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen 14–21, 18–21.[9]

2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games

In 2010, Diju won the silver medal in Commonwealth Games in the mixed team event. He participated at the Asian Games in Guangzhou. Diju and Gutta pair reached the quarter-finals of the World Championships for the second consecutive year beaten by Koreans Ko Sung-hyun and Ha Jung-eun 21–16, 21–19 having beaten the English pair of Chris Adcock and Gabrielle White and Malaysians Goh Liu Ying and Chan Peng Soon in straight games and overcoming Chayut Triyachart and Yao Lei from Singapore in the pre-quarters in three games. The pair also won the 2010 India Open Grand Prix Gold for their second Grand Prix Gold title beating Triyachart and Lei in three games.

2011 Ranchi National Games winner

In 2011, Diju and Gutta reached the quarter-finals or better at three tournaments including two Super Series Premieres events at Denmark Open and China Masters where they reached the semi-finals, their first since 2009. They beat second seeded Chinese pair of Tao Jiaming and Tian Qing in the first round 5–21, 21–14, 21–18.

2012 London Olympics

Diju started his Olympic campaign pairing Jwala Gutta in mixed doubles. However they lost their opening match 16–21, 12–21 in just 25 minutes at the Wembley Arena in London.

G.V Raja Award

Government of Kerala announced him as the recipient of G.V. Raja awards for 2012–13. [10]

Achievements

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South Asian Games

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Men's doubles
Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2010 Wooden-Floor Gymnasium,
Dhaka, Bangladesh
India Chetan Anand India Rupesh Kumar K. T.
India Sanave Thomas
19–21, retired Silver Silver
Mixed doubles
Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2006 Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium,
Colombo, Sri Lanka
India Jwala Gutta India Thomas Kurien
India Aparna Balan
21–11, 21–13 Gold Gold
2010 Wooden-Floor Gymnasium,
Dhaka, Bangladesh
India Ashwini Ponnappa India Sanave Thomas
India Aparna Balan
21–11, 21–15 Gold Gold

BWF Superseries Finals

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Mixed doubles
Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2009 Superseries Finals India Jwala Gutta Denmark Joachim Fischer Nielsen
Denmark Christinna Pedersen
14–21, 18–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up

BWF Grand Prix

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The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) since 1983.

Mixed doubles
Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2008 Bitburger Open India Jwala Gutta Denmark Joachim Fischer Nielsen
Denmark Christinna Pedersen
8–21, 21–17, 22–20 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2008 Bulgarian Open India Jwala Gutta Indonesia Fran Kurniawan
Indonesia Shendy Puspa Irawati
15–21, 21–18, 21–19 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2009 India Open India Jwala Gutta Indonesia Flandy Limpele
Indonesia Vita Marissa
14–21, 17–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2009 Chinese Taipei Open India Jwala Gutta Indonesia Hendra Aprida Gunawan
Indonesia Vita Marissa
23–21, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2010 India Open India Jwala Gutta Singapore Chayut Triyachart
Singapore Yao Lei
23–21, 20–22, 21–7 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
  BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

IBF International

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Men's doubles
Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2000 Hungarian International India Sanave Thomas Spain José Antonio Crespo
Spain Sergio Llopis
17–14, 15–7 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2004 India Satellite India Jaseel P. Ismail India Rupesh Kumar K. T.
India Sanave Thomas
15–9, 15–1 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2005 India Satellite India Jaseel P. Ismail India Rupesh Kumar K. T.
India Sanave Thomas
14–17, 7–15 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2008 Nepal International India Akshay Dewalkar Pakistan Mohammad Atique
Pakistan Rizwan Azam
19–21, 21–10, 21–12 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Bahrain International Series India K. Nandagopal India Rupesh Kumar K. T.
India Sanave Thomas
21–17, 12–21, 21–19 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Bahrain International Challenge India K. Nandagopal India Rupesh Kumar K. T.
India Sanave Thomas
Walkover 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
Mixed doubles
Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2005 Jakarta Satellite India Jwala Gutta Vietnam Trần Thanh Hải
Vietnam Ngô Hải Vân
15–1, 15–3 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2005 India Satellite India B. R. Meenakshi India Marcos Bristow
India Aparna Balan
15–10, 15–4 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2005 Welsh International India Jwala Gutta Scotland Watson Briggs
Scotland Imogen Bankier
12–15, 15–2, 15–9 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2007 Pakistan International India Aparna Balan Sri Lanka Diluka Karunaratne
Sri Lanka Renu Hettiarachchige
21–11, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2007 Tata Open India International India Jwala Gutta India Rupesh Kumar K. T.
India Aparna Balan
21–14, 21–16 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2008 Nepal International India Jwala Gutta India J. B. S. Vidyadhar
India Shruti Kurien
21–12, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2008 Bahrain International India Trupti Murgunde India Arun Vishnu
India Aparna Balan
21–17, 18–21, 19–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2013 Bahrain International Series India N. Sikki Reddy India Arun Vishnu
India Aparna Balan
14–21, 23–25 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2013 Bahrain International Challenge India N. Sikki Reddy India Sanave Thomas
India Prajakta Sawant
21–19, 14–21, 23–23 retired 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament
  BWF Future Series tournament

Personal life

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Diju was born at Ramanattukara, in the Calicut district to Karunakaran and Lalitha on 4 January 1981. He did his schooling in Govt. Model Boys School, Thrissur. He completed his graduation from Farook College, Calicut. Diju is currently working as Chief Manager in ONGC, Chennai. He is married to Dr. Soumya on 16 September 2012. Diju and Soumya have a son Ivaan, who born 16 February 2017.[11] Diju has an elder brother Dinu.

References

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  1. ^ Jha, Rakesh (12 March 2012). "Valiyaveetil Diju". www.indiansportsnews.com. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  2. ^ "Abhinn is men's champion". The Hindu. 12 January 2002. Archived from the original on 1 January 2003. Retrieved 19 April 2009.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "Jwala, Diju lose in Indian Open final". IBNLive.com. 30 March 2009. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  4. ^ "India's Gutta-Diju enter World Badminton quarterfinal". IBNLive.com. 14 August 2009. Archived from the original on 8 December 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  5. ^ "Jwala-Diju crash out in quarter-finals". rediff SPORTS.com. 30 March 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  6. ^ "Historic gold for Jwala-Diju". The Hindustan Times. 31 August 2009. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  7. ^ "Jwala, Diju ecstatic after Chinese Taipei Grand Prix win". Sify. 30 August 2009. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  8. ^ "Jwala, Diju enter finals of World Super Series Final". The Indian Express. 5 December 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
  9. ^ "Jwala-Diju lose to top-seeded Danish duo in final". The Hindu. 7 December 2009. Archived from the original on 14 December 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
  10. ^ "London Olympics: Jwala-Diju pair loses opening group match". The Times of India. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  11. ^ "Shuttler V Diju ties the knot". The Times of India. 16 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
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