Nikhil Kanetkar

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Nikhil Kanetkar

WE MAKE CHAMPIONS

Nikhil Kanetkar, a former Olympian has a strong record of playing International tournaments for 10 years.

He has represented India in the Olympics, Thomas Cup, All England Open, Asian Games, World Championships, Commonwealth Games, SAF Games, Swiss Open, French Open, Toulouse Open and numerous other championships.

He has also played for a German Club BC Saarbruken Bischmisheim for the duration 2002-2007.

During his professional badminton career, Nikhil trained at various renowned badminton centers such as

  • Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA), Bangalore
  • National Centre in Arhus, Denmark
  • National Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • National Centre in Milton Keynes, England
  • National Centre in Paris, France
  • National Centre in Saarbruecken, Germany

He retired in 2011 from competitive sports and decided to set up an academy in Pune, Maharashtra, India, to provide top notch badminton coaching to aspiring and talented players seeking competitive recognition.

As part of his critical role as a Director and Head Coach of the academy, he has been involved in many coaching and mentoring activities, within and outside the academy. Following are few of those important coaching experiences.

  • Mentor and Head Coach for “Fiery Falcons” in Maharashtra Badminton League (MBL) in 2012.
  • Invited by “JITO Final Touch Organization”, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Bengal badminton Academy, Kolkata, and at various cities in Maharashtra as well as outside Maharashtra to conduct coaching camps for talented kids.
  • Coach the Coaches – On the job training is being continuously imparted to coaching assistants to make them aware of new on-court drills.
  • Nikhil Kanetkar was chosen as Head Coach of Pune Pistons in inaugural Indian Badminton League (IBL) 2013. Pune Pistons reached the Semi Finals.
  • In 2017 Nikhil Kanetkar was among those selected on the National Coaches Panel of the Badminton Association of India (BAI)
  • Nikhil Kanetkar as an Olympian was invited by Star Sports as an Expert in Badminton for covering the Badminton events of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
  • Nikhil was invited to give a lecture on ‘Management of a High Performance Academy ‘ at the Olympic Gold Quest Coaches Clinic which was conducted in the NKBA premises.
  • Nikhil was appointed as the Head Coach for the North Eastern Warriors Team in the Season 3 Premier Badminton League (PBL).
  • In 2019, Nikhil Kanetkar was awarded by the Shiv Chhatrapati Award for the Best Coach.
  • In 2019, Nikhil won the Times Men Of The Year Award.
  • Nikhil is on the Panel of the Selection Committee Members for the Maharashtra Badminton Association ( MBA ).
  • During the 2023 Senior Nationals at Pune, Nikhil was among those Felicitated as a Thomas Cupper from Maharashtra.
  • In 2023, Nikhil was inducted as a Vice President of Poona District & Metropolitan Badminton Association ( PDMBA ) & also appointed as the Chairman of the District Coaching Committee.
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