Jwala Gutta is an Indian badminton player. Beginning in the late 1990s, she represented India at international events in both mixed and women's doubles. She has a total of 316 match wins in both the disciplines—the most by any Indian—and peaked at no. 6 in the world rankings. Gutta has won medals at numerous tournaments on the BWF circuit including a silver at the 2009 Superseries Masters Finals and a bronze at the 2011 World Championships.
Jwala Gutta was born on 7 September 1983 in Wardha, Maharashtra and brought up in Hyderabad, Telangana, to a Chinese mother and a Telugu father. Jwala's father, Kranti Gutta, hailed from a family of Leftists from Peddapuliveru in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district. Her mother, Yelan Gutta, was born in China and is a granddaughter of a Gandhian named Zeng. Yelan first came to India in 1977 with her grandfather to visit the Sevagram ashram, where she translated Gandhi's autobiography and other works into the Chinese language. Gutta has a younger sister, Insi Gutta.
Initially inclined towards playing tennis, Gutta shifted to badminton at the insistence of her mother. She was introduced to the national badminton coach S. M. Arif, by her father at the age of four. Arif recommended her to learn gymnastics or swimming for a couple of years before starting training for badminton. Gutta later started training under Arif, at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium.
Gutta started playing badminton at the age of six. Her chief achievement as a youngster was to win the Under-13 Girls Mini National Badminton Championship held at Thrissur, Kerala. In 2000, Gutta (aged 17) won the Junior National Badminton Championship. The same year, she also won the Women's Doubles Junior National Championship and the Senior National Badminton Championship, both in partnership with Shruti Kurien. This association was to last several years, and the pairing of Gutta and Shruti Kurien won the Women's Doubles National title for seven years in succession, from 2002 to 2008.
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