Jwala Gutta (born 7 September 1983) is a former Indian badminton player who specialised in doubles. With Ashwini Ponnappa she won the women’s doubles gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and a bronze at the 2011 World Championships, India’s first medal in doubles at that event. With V. Diju she reached number six in the world in mixed doubles. She was known for her attacking left-handed game and for speaking her mind.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Jwala Gutta |
| Born | 7 September 1983, Wardha, Maharashtra, India |
| Age | 43 |
| Hometown | Hyderabad |
| Sport | Badminton (women’s and mixed doubles) |
| Plays | Left-handed |
| Olympics | 2012, 2016 |
| Parents | Kranti Gutta, Yelan Gutta |
| Spouse | Chetan Anand (div.); Vishnu Vishal (m. 2021) |
| Honour | Arjuna Award (2011) |
Early Life
Gutta was born in Wardha to a Telugu father, Kranti Gutta, and a Chinese mother, Yelan, who had come to India as a child with her grandfather, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi at the Sevagram ashram. The family moved to Hyderabad, where she began training at six under S. M. Arif.
Career
She won the national junior title and then, with Shruti Kurien, the national women’s doubles title seven years in a row. In all she won fourteen national titles.
She and Diju won the Bitburger Open and reached the final of the 2009 World Superseries Masters Finals, the first Indians to do so in any event, and the quarter-finals of the World Championships.
They won the gold medal at the Delhi Commonwealth Games on the final day, beating a pair from Singapore, and bronze at the World Championships in London in 2011. Gutta played both women’s and mixed doubles at the 2012 London Olympics. The pair won silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and bronze at the Uber Cup, and competed at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
She often criticised the national federation and the chief coach, Pullela Gopichand, saying doubles players were neglected in favour of singles.
After Playing
She opened the Jwala Gutta Academy of Excellence in Hyderabad in 2019.
Personal Life
She was married to the badminton player Chetan Anand from 2005 to 2011. In April 2021 she married the Tamil actor Vishnu Vishal; their daughter was born in 2025.
Major Medals
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Jwala Gutta born?
Jwala Gutta was born on 7 September 1983 in Wardha, Maharashtra, India and is 43 years old.
Featured image: Jwala Gutta (left) and Ashwini Ponnappa with their women’s doubles gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, New Delhi, 14 October 2010. Photo by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
