World number one Kento Momota was stunned by number 38 South Korea's Heo Kwanghee on Wednesday, going down 15-21, 19-21 and looking visibly despondent at each lost point in his first round match at the Olympics, on Wednesday.
Indian badminton stalwart Ashwini Ponnappa broke down in tears, announcing she has played her last Olympics after she and her partner Tanisha Crasto suffered their third straight defeat in the women's doubles competition of the Paris Games.
An under-strength Indian women's team suffered a 0-5 defeat to the mighty China in its final group A fixture of the Uber Cup.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the second round of French Open Super 750 badminton tournament.
China's two-time Olympic badminton champion Lin Dan, one of the sport's greatest singles players, announced his retirement on Saturday. The 37-year-old, who won the Olympics singles titles in Beijing in 2008 and the 2012 London Games, has won all the sport's major titles, including five world championships' gold medals.
Kidambi Srikanth's opening round match ended in agony as he retired due to a knee injury after lagging 14-21, 3-11 against Japan's fifth seed Kodai Naraoka.
India's athletes are being told that plenty of shut-eye could be the foundation for Olympic success and the team has roped in sleep therapist Monika Sharma to keep them at their sharpest in Paris.
Treesa committed a few errors but the Indian duo still managed to keep its nose ahead, despite the fighting Taiwanese pair.
HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma and Sourabh Verma are the men's singles players who have decided to withdraw while doubles specialists Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy have also opted out. Leading Indian women's singles players PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal - both previous Olympic medallists - are making the trip to England, as are their male counterparts Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth.
'At times when the score is crucial and you have to be mentally really strong. Credit to him, he played a solid game in the second half.'
'It was tough financially for the first few years but my friends and family supported me and once he did well at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, there was no looking back.'
Satwik-Chirag suffer shock defeat in opening round of Singapore Open
A collection of stunning pictures from the Paris 2024 Games
Lakshya Sen registered an easy 21-9, 21-15 win over Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in his pre-quarterfinal match.
Another impressive week ended with a creditable semifinal finish for star shuttler Lakshya Sen after he stumbled to a three-game loss against Indonesia's Jonatan Christie at the All England Championships in Birmingham on Saturday, prolonging India's long wait for the coveted trophy.
Former national champion and 2014 German Open winner, Arvind Bhat has retired from international badminton, citing his desire to concentrate on coaching stints with an academy in Hyderabad.
Meiraba, who trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, eliminated Denmark's Mads Christophersen
PV Sindhu stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of the Olympic Games' women's singles competition
Sindhu will play her opening match on Sunday, while B Sai Praneeth and the men's pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be in action on Saturday.
Top shuttlers Ashwini Ponnappa and Lakshya Sen are among 20-odd Indian players who have started training at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) in Bengaluru as the sport took its first step towards resumption after the COVID-19 hiatus. Confined to their homes for more than two months due to the nationwide lockdown to contain the health crisis, the shuttlers started training at PPBA after the Sports Authority of India (SAI) laid down rules for resumption of training late last month.
A look at how India's athletes fared on Day 2, on Sunday, July 28, 2024:
A third straight Olympics medal eluded P V Sindhu after a shock exit from the Paris Games following a straight-games defeat to China's world No. 6 He Bingjiao in the women's singles badminton pre-quarter-finals in Paris on Thursday.
The All India Tennis Association claimed that Sumit Nagal demanded an annual fee of $50,000 to play Davis Cup ties for India.
In a series of tweets, Sawant questioned the selection of the team and urged Badminton Association of India (BAI) president Himanta Biswa Sarma to look into the matter.
Taapsee Pannu took to Instagram to shower praise on her husband, badminton player Mathias Boe, marking her first public acknowledgement of their marital bond.
Dr Ramakanta Panda, one of the world's leading heart surgeons and the chairman and chief cardiac surgeon at Mumbai's Asian Heart Institute, recommends simple things you can do every day to keep your heart healthy.
As per the Ministry sources, a special request was made by the BCCI to the sports ministry to include Shami's name as he didn't originally feature in the list of the country's second-highest sporting honour.
Chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand on Monday singled out world number one doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as favourites for an Olympic medal and said two-time medallist PV Sindhu too is on the right path and can deliver once again at the Paris Games.
Check out how India's athletes fared on Day 7, Friday, August 2, 2024:
Lakshya Sen sails into third round of World Championships
The grand pre-wedding celebration of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant has kicked off in Jamnagar, creating a buzz not just for its grandeur but also for the presence of renowned sports stars.
P V Sindhu took a giant stride towards securing a title at the Malaysia Masters after progressing to the semifinals with a hard-fought win over top seed Han Yue of China
'The kind of things they were writing, 'Oh, what is this, she's overacting at her wedding.' 'Why is she not covering her head?' 'The kind of liberty people take to comment on what I should be doing in my personal life is not something I'm okay with.'
'We both are big foodies. We make it a point to go out and try different food after our matches.'
Indian badminton stars Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were on Tuesday nominated for the Player Year of the Award by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Sindhu saw off Sim 21-13, 12-21, 21-14 in a 59-minute women's singles second-round match to register her third win over the Korean world number 34.
Another gold medal in Paris would further elevate Neeraj Chopra's status as the greatest ever athlete in the history of Indian sport.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand went down to World No 4. pair Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa on Friday called for a robust financial backing for chess, debunking the common concept that players require minimal monetary support to train and excel in the sport.
Three years ago, India returned from Tokyo with seven medals, and it is only natural that a double-digit performance is now desired in Paris.
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