Sathish Kumar Karunakaran's badminton career has started quietly, in contrast to most of his classmates. Sathish was limited to playing domestic events, but Lakshya
Sen, Priyanshu Rajawat, and Kiran George were making waves at the junior international level.
Coach of Sathish and former India international Ajit Wijetilekk states, "We decided to give him holistic training and make him a mature player before sending him for international tournaments."
The 22-year-old lost to Rajawat in the final of his first international competition, the 2021 Ukraine International, but it appeared that his strategy had paid off. Before taking home his first international trophy in Cameroon last year, he advanced to another final that year in the Hungarian International.