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.
The Badminton World Federation has postponed the Thomas and Uber Cup, the premier global men's and women's team championship, to be held in Denmark for three months from the earlier scheduled date in May in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said the academic training at the National Centre of Excellence and Sports Auhtority of India Training Centres will also be suspended.
National camp to resume on Monday.
Former India football captain Baichung Bhutia was given the Lifetime Achievement award, while hockey legend and three-time Olympic gold medallist Balbir Singh Sr was honoured with the Icon of the Century award.
Srikanth, a former world number one, was left with a bloodied nose after going through multiple COVID tests ahead of the YONEX Thailand Open earlier this year.
Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap have urged badminton's governing body to reconsider its decision not to extend the qualification period for the Tokyo Games despite several events being cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Srikanth spent the early part of the lockdown in his home town, where he was unable to train at his normal level. It was an opportunity for him to reflect on life outside badminton.
This is the second time in her career, after April 6 this year that Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu has occupied the second spot on the leaderboard.
On Sunday the Ukrainian Tennis Federation urged the sport's governing body the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to immediately expel Russia and Belarus from the organisation and ban Russia from team and individual tournaments. Also, athletes from Ukraine and other nations have called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to suspend Russia and Belarus and ban their athletes from events immediately.
The Olympic silver-medallist, who out-played Japan's Nozomi Okuhara 21-7, 21-7 in a lop-sided final in Basel, Switzerland on Sunday, earlier addressed the frenzied media at the Indira Gandhi InternationalAirport in New Delhi on Monday
Shuttler N Sikki Reddy and physiotherapist Kiran C have tested positive for COVID-19 at the ongoing national camp, forcing the closure of the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad for sanitisation.
China's badminton superstar Lin Dan said he hopes world number one Lee Chong Wei, who is embroiled in a doping scandal, is able to return to the sport soon, state media reported.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF), in a statement, said the escalation of the COVID-19 outbreak globally forced it to cancel or postpone all tournaments from March 16 to April 12.
Former badminton world number one Lee Chong Wei is hoping to be back on court for the start of the 2016 Olympic qualifiers in May after finally being given an April date for a hearing into his failed dope test.
Airbadminton was globally launched at Guangzhou last week by the Badminton World Federation
This year PV Sindhu has reached the summit clash at India Open, the Commonwealth Games and the Thailand Open but failed to cross the final hurdle, prompting many critics to once again describe her as the 'perennial bridesmaid'.
I don't want to respond to what her father has to say, if Sindhu says something, I will respond, Gopichand retorts to PV Sindhu's father's allegations of unsatisfactory training.
The Indian won 21-7 21-7 in the summit clash that lasted just 38 minutes.
Will India finally reach the elusive double-digit mark? Raj Kishore Mishra, former joint secretary at the sports ministry, for one, is willing to stick his neck out on the possibility.
P V Sindhu won the ESPN's 'Female Sportsperson of the Year' award while young shooter Saurabh Chaudhary bagged the honour in the male category.
The prestigious awards recognise the achievements of the elite badminton players
The apex body also advised "teams and participants entering tournaments during the European and Asian legs" to "not return to their home countries as many would then have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period upon their return."
India's badminton doubles specialist N Sikki Reddy on Saturday heaved a sigh of relief after returning negative for COVID-19 barely two days after testing positive for the contagious disease, saying she was "shocked" by the not-so-kind reactions her initial result attracted.
Sporting fraternity hails Sindhu's historic World C'ships gold
On March 11, the government issued a revised travel advisory, cancelling all visas till April 15 and making it clear that Indian nationals returning to the country from affected countries would be quarantined for 14 days. England is among the most-affected by coronavirus outbreak. P V Sindhu was given the choice of pulling out of All England Championships after the Indian government's travel restrictions came into force but the Olympic silver-medallist decided to play on
Australia's winter sports community has been forced back into mourning with the sudden death of 20-year-old Olympic figure skater Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya in Moscow.
India's champion shuttler P V Sindhu feels more women will win medals for the country in future and hard work is the key to success.
"I remember Chandrayaan-2's launch was earlier scheduled on July 15. I was there in Sriharikota. I saw the massive carrier, 'Bahubali', from close proximity.
The Badminton Association of India is optimistic about China's participation in next month's India Open despite fears surrounding the deadly coronavirus as Chinese shuttlers are in quarantine for almost a fortnight in Europe.
India's badminton queen PV Sindhu revealed that working with new coach Kim Ji Hyun along with the guidance from Pullela Gopichand has been instrumental in taking her game to the next level.
Legendary Sachin Tendulkar along with chess wizard Viswanathan Anand and tennis ace Sania Mirza are likely to grace India's first ever day-night Test against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens.
In an open letter, BWF secretary general Thomas Lund said the decision to go ahead with the All England Championships was made based on the best advice at that time. "It has been very disappointing to see some members of the badminton community speculate on the sincerity and motives of the BWF in this time of crisis," Lund wrote.
India's chief badminton coach Pullela Gopichand believes the Tokyo Olympics should be postponed given the unprecedented crisis that the world is facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Hyderabad Open badminton tournament, scheduled to be held from August 11 to 16, was on Thursday cancelled by the world body BWF in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The event was part of the BWF's revised calendar to restart the sport after the pandemic-forced cancellations since March.
India's top shuttler, Parupalli Kashyap climbed a notch to the 13th position in the men's singles table in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings.
The Badminton World Federastion (BWF) unveiled a revised international calendar to salvage the remainder of the season, disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
India's national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand wants Badminton World Federation (BWF) to come up with "radical" solutions to restart the sport smoothly in a post coronavirus world, suggesting that conducting more tournaments at a single venue could be the way forward. The coronavirus outbreak, which has so far infected over 41 lakh people and caused close to 3 lakh deaths worldwide, forced BWF to suspend all events, including the Olympic qualifiers, till end of July.
Pusarla Sindhu romped into the final of the World Badminton Championships, trouncing China's Chen Yu Fei 21-7, 21-14 in semi-finals, in Basel, on Saturday.
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