Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu are on a collision course at next week's World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, as they have been placed in the same half after the world governing body re-conducted the women's singles draw.
H S Prannoy stunned World No 10 Kanta Tsuneyama while ace Indian women shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal also sailed into the second round of the Malaysia Masters, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday. World Championships bronze-medallist B Sai Praneeth and the seasoned Kidambi Srikanth, though, bowed out of the men's singles events.
The Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy clarified that it played no role in Saina Nehwal shifting from the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad to Bengaluru to train under Vimal Kumar ahead of the Rio Olympics, saying the move was the "sole decision" of the ace shuttler.
Two-time Olympics medallist P V Sindhu opted out citing post-Olympics recovery.
Saina lost 9-21, 12-21 in the women's singles clash that lasted just 24 minutes
Saina had pulled out of the opening round of All England Open Championships last week after suffering a thigh injury.
Kashyap, a Commonwealth Games champion, was trailing 8-14 in the third game when he chose to retire after pulling his calf muscle.
India's chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand on Friday admitted that it was tough for him to manage two of his illustrious wards Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu together, saying he could never pick a favourite between the two. Gopichand said he always saw the duo as his kids and felt bitter when Saina left his academy to join Prakash Padukone's academy.
It was a quiet birthday for India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal, who celebrated the special day in 'isolation' with her husband Parupalli Kashyap at her home in Hyderabad, on Tuesday.
Saina lost 15-21, 21-23 in the women's singles match that lasted 37 minutes to crash out
Saina Nehwal suffered her seventh straight defeat to world No 1 and old nemesis Tai Tzu Ying, going down in the summit clash of the $ 350,000 Indonesia Masters in Jakarta on Sunday.
London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal has pulled out of the US$350,000 Singapore Super Series to spend more time in training to improve her game ahead of the hectic international circuit.
Saina Nehwal is looking forward to her biopic and the ace shuttler says actor Shraddha Kapoor, who will be playing her role in the movie, has worked hard on the project.
It was Saina Nehwal's 13th straight defeat against the World No 1 Taiwanese, whom she has not beaten since 2015.
Former national badminton coach Vimal Kumar lauded Saina Nehwal for not letting her relationship with fellow shuttler Parupalli Kashyap affect her game.
'Taare Zameen Par' director Amole Gupte will be making a biopic on the world's leading badminton player Saina Nehwal, the shooting for which will begin next year.
The couple invited superstar Chiranjeevi for their wedding ceremony.
This was Sindhu's second consecutive loss to Tzu Ying. Saina was no match for Carolina Marin, who took exactly half-an-hour to dispose of the Indian's challenge, beating her 8-21, 7-21.
In a tweet on Saturday night, Nehwal, who is a member of the BJP wrote, "Hearty congratulations for thumping victory in Zila Panchayat Chairperson election in UP @myogiadityanath sir."
Srikanth showed great determination to outwit Korea's World No 25 Lee Dong Keun 12-21, 21-16, 21-18 in a second-round clash that clocked an hour and 13 minutes. The Indian had lost twice to the 27-year-old Korean in the past two meetings.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu stormed into the women's singles second round at the Swiss Open with a straight-game win over Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt in Basel.
In a statement, the administration said one person is feared to be still trapped under the debris.
Saina Nehwal has once again resumed her partnership with long-time mentor and former coach Pullela Gopichand and would be starting her training at his academy in Hyderabad after recovering from a thigh strain.
India's batting great Sachin Tendulkar celebrated Diwali at his home in Mumbai on Saturday, while Olympic medallists like Saina Nehwal and MC Mary Kom took to social media to wish their fans.
India's Saina Nehwal on Saturday crashed out of the Orleans Masters after losing in the semi-final against Denmark's Line Christophersen, in Paris on Saturday.
The Indian challenge ended at the Asia Badminton Championship after Saina Nehwal and H S Prannoy went down fighting in the singles semi-finals, in Wuhan, on Saturday.
The 28-year-old from Hyderabad, a winner of the Indonesia Masters, semi-finalist at Malaysia Masters and quarter-finalist at the All England Championship, saw US$36,825 added to her career earnings.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Saina Nehwal's aggression and intensity quite literally wilted P V sindhu as she picked up the women's singles Commonwealth Games gold medal with exhilarating triumph in the final, in Gold Coast, on Sunday.
Three-time champion Saina Nehwal registered a 21-18, 21-15 win against PV Sindhu, a two-time winner, in the summit clash.
In a startling disclosure, India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal revealed that she had to initially hide her relationship with husband Parupalli Kashyap because of 'societal barriers'.
Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki N Reddy also won their mixed doubles first round match, beating Denmark's Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje 10-21, 21-16, 21-17.
'The prospect of witnessing the divine presence of Lord Ram is something we are eagerly looking forward to.'
India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal accused the sport's administrators of placing money above players' safety by continuing last week's All England Championships despite the coronavirus pandemic. The 30-year-old lost in the opening round of the marquee event, which was among a handful which continued even as the bulk of global sporting calendar was either postponed or cancelled.
Gopichand also wondered to why the legendary Padukone, India's first badminton superstar 'never had anything positive to say about him'.
Sindhu, a 2019 World Champion, lost 14-21, 21-15, 14-21 to Zhang in a match that lasted 55 minutes.
India ace Saina Nehwal was admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad to undergo treatment for her knee injury which affected her progress in the badminton event of the Rio Olympics.
Sindhu lost 7-21, 24-22, 15-21 to Beiwen Zhang of United States in a match that lasted 56 minutes while World Championships bronze-medallst Sai Praneeth was trailing 9-21, 7-11 when he conceded the match to fifth-seeded Anders Antonsen of Denmark due to an unspecified injury.
Lack of adequate time to recover after a late night match affected Saina Nehwal's performance in the semi-finals, feels her coach Vimal Kumar, who called for perfect scheduling of matches in big ticket events such as World Championship and Olympics.
Now all eyes are on the two Super 1000 events -- Yonex Thailand Open (January 12-17) and Toyota Thailand Open (January 19-24) as the world's best return to action following a prolonged break.
