[5] He also emerged as the winner in the singles and doubles category at the All India Junior International Badminton Championship held in Pune.

[6] In 2012, Kidambi overcame the then Junior World Champion Zulfadli Zulkiffli of Malaysia in the Maldives International Challenge to claim the men's singles title.

[7] In the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold event, Kidambi won the men's singles title, beating then world number eight and local favorite Boonsak Ponsana in straight games.

[12] He was part of the Indian badminton contingent that reached the semi-finals of the mixed team event at the Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow.

[14] In November, he created a major upset in the final of the 2014 China Open Super Series Premier by beating 5-time World Champion and 2-time Olympic Champion Lin Dan in straight games (21–19, 21–17), thus becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series Premier men's title.

[15] He then reached the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open Super Series after beating Taiwan's Chou Tien-chen in an early round.

He defeated Kento Momota (15–21, 21–16, 21–10) and Tommy Sugiarto (21–18, 21–13) in the group stage to reach the semi-final of the prestigious BWF Super Series Masters Finals, where he lost again to Chen Long of China.

The following week, he won the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships Grand Prix Gold title, defeating Huang Yuxiang 21–13, 14–21, 21–14 in the final.

Kidambi and Sai Praneeth created history when they became the first ever Indian pair to enter the finals of a ranking event in Badminton.

Both hailing from Hyderabad and being coached by Pullela Gopichand, it was Sai Praneeth who prevailed 17–21, 21–17, 21–12 eventually to clinch the Singapore Super Series title.

[19] Kidambi won the Indonesia Super Series beating Japan's Kazumasa Sakai 21–11, 21–19, thereby becoming the first ever Indian male player to do so.

In the process, he equalled the record held by Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan, and Chen Long.

Kidambi represented his country at the South Asian Games in Nepal, and won the gold medal in the team event.