| Diju V. | |
|---|---|
Diju |
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| Personal information | |
| Born | January 4, 1981 Ramanattukara, Kozhikode, Kerala, India |
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Country | India |
| Handedness | Right |
| Mens's Doubles/Mixed Doubles | |
| Highest Ranking | 7[1] (23 July 2009) |
| Current Ranking | 7 |
| BWF Profile | |
Valiyaveetil Diju (Malayalam: വലിയവീട്ടില് ഡിജു) (born 4 January 1981) (or V. Diju) is an Indian badminton player from Kozhikode, Kerala. He along with partner Jwala Gutta is the current National mixed-doubles champions and the pair is currently ranked 7th in the world by Badminton World Federation.[2]
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Diju started his career by representing Calicut University at All India University Championships. In 2002, he and Sanave Thomas won the Indian National Badminton Championships (doubles) at Lucknow by defeating Jaseel P. Ismail and Jaison Xavier in four games.[3] He won the Bitburger Open Championship in Germany along with Jwala Gutta. It was India's first mixed-doubles Grand Prix win. Diju is a four-time National mixed-doubles champion. In 2006, he won bronze medal in Commonwealth Games at Melbourne. He has also won the National doubles title in 2002 with Sanave Thomas as the partner. Diju-Jwala pair was runner up at Indian Open held at Hyderabad in 2009. They lost to Indonesian Flandy Limpele and Vita Marissa in the final.[4]
In August 2009, the Diju-Jwala mixed doubles pair became the first Indians to enter the quarterfinals of World Badminton 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 Nadiezda Kostiuczyk 21-11 22-20 in a 31-minute clash.[5] In the quarterfinal they went down to defending champions and second seeds Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir of Indonesia. The Indian pair was beaten 16-21, 14-21 in 27 minutes.[6]
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 Gunawan and Vita Marissa 24-22, 21-18 in the Chinese Taipei Open final.[7][8] In the quartefinal, the world No. 7 pair and third seed in the tournament, defeated Korean pair Shin Baek-Cheol and Yoo Hyun-Young and in the semi-final Diju and Gutta prevailed over Malaysians Liu Ying Goh and Peng Soon Chan 21-11, 17-21, 24-22.[9]
In December 2009, Diju and his doubles partner Jwala reached the World Super Series Masters final in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. They beat Robert Mateusiak and Nadieżda Kostiuczyk of Poland in straight-games 21-19 21-11.[10] In the final the Indian pair went down to World Championship bronze medallists Christinna Pedersen and Joaquim Nielsen 21-14, 21-18.[11]
Diju was born at Ramanattukara, in the Calicut district to Karunakaran and Lalitha. He did his schooling in Govt. Model Boys School, Thrissur. He completed his graduation from Farook College, Calicut. He has an elder brother Dinu. Diju is currently working as HR manager in ONGC, Chennai.