Fifth seed Chen Long of China tumbled out of the World badminton championships on day one, beaten by little-known Kevin Cordon of Guatemala, at Wembley Arena on Monday. In a 74-minute thriller, world number 36 Cordon clinched victory on his fourth match point 21-19, 8-21, 27-25.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated shuttler Kidambi Srikanth after he clinched his second Super Series Premier title by lifting the Indonesia Open men's singles trophy in Jakarta.
An ailing Lee Chong Wei suffered a shock loss to China's Chen Long in the first round of the Indian Open in Hyderabad on Wednesday. The Malaysian world number one went down 21-7, 16-21, 18-21 in 50 minutes to the Chinese world number 147, blaming an upset stomach for his defeat.
All-England and World champion Carolina Marin beat Indian ace Saina Nehwal to win the 'Female Player of the Year' award in Dubai on Monday night. Besides, Saina, Marin, who won five World Superseries titles, held off competition from China's Zhao Yunlei and Bao Yixin.
India's star women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashiwini Ponnappa also made the last eight stage, but it was curtains for the men's doubles duo of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar.
Four-times winner Lin Dan of China ended the brave run of Germany's Marc Zwiebler on Saturday to set up a repeat of the 2009 final he won against holder and world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.
The 26-year-old is now the lone Indian survivor in the BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Parupalli Kashyap speaks to Harish Kotian/Rediff.com about his recent triumph over world No. 1 Chen Long of China and why he wants the Indian Badminton League to be revived.
Fourth seeded Srikanth, who had claimed a silver medal at this year's Commonwealth Games, had to dig deep in his reservoir to outwit fellow Indian H S Prannoy 18-21, 30-29, 21-18 in a thrilling match, clocking an hour and seven minutes.
Parupalli Kashyap surprised world No. 5 Son Wan Ho in straight games to enter the men's singles quarter-finals at the Indonesian Open Super Series, but Kidambi Srikanth bowed out after losing to a lower-ranked opponent, in Jakarta, on Thursday.
More than a year after recovering from a shoulder injury, Ajay Jayaram earned a final appearance at the Korea Open last week and the Indian shuttler said it was a big moment for him after enduring a challenging seven-month layoff.
Lee, who was diagnosed with early stage nose cancer last year, said he opted to retire after being told by doctors that his body could no longer take the intense training needed for high-level competition.
Parupalli Kashyap regained his place inside the top 10 in the latest BWF's world ranking, release on Thurday.
India's campaign in the Hong Kong Super Series came to an end after young shuttler Kidambi Srikanth suffered a three-game loss to top seed Chen Long of China in the semifinals of the men's singles event of the $ 350,000 event, in Hong Kong on Saturday.
Rising Indian midfielder Manpreet Singh was named the 'Junior Player of the Year' by the Asian Hockey Federation in its Congress held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Leverdez, the world number 31, scored only his second win over Lee in nine matches and said playing without fear helped him in the 75-minute contest at the Emirates Arena.
China draws blank in Asiad badminton singles as rivals improve
'Since I arrived in Sydney I have gastroenteritis and have had diarrhoea, so I have not been at my best physical condition'
India's campaign at the Sudirman Cup ended after they went down 0-3 against top seed and 10-time champions China in the quarter-finals of the mixed team championship in Gold Coast.
Defending champion Lee Chong Wei produced one of his finest performances to retain the men's singles title with a straight-game victory over familiar foe Chen Long of China in the final of the US $250,000 Yonex Sunrise Metlife India Super Series in Delhi on Sunday. In an all-Chinese women's singles final, All-England champion Shixian Wang, seeded second, kept her cool at crucial moments to overcome Olympic champion and top seed Li Xuerui 22-20, 21-19 in 47 minutes.
It is the surprise element of the unheralded shutters, who could pose a bigger threat to his medal aspirations at next month's Commonwealth Games.
It turned out to be a disastrous day for Indian shuttlers at the Hong Kong Open as P V Sindhu, K Srikanth and Ajay Jayaram crashed out of the $ 350,000 Super Series event in the opening round, in Hong Kong, on Wednesday.
Indian shuttlers had a mixed day in the opening round of the China Open with Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu easing into Round II, while Kidambi Srikanth and Ajay Jayaram making early exits.
The Indian, who defeated world number one Chen Long in the quarter-finals on Friday, lost 21-12, 17-21, 19-21 in a draining battle which lasted an hour and 11 minutes.
India's No 1 shuttler Saina Nehwal has been seeded fifth and compatriot P V Sindhu ninth in the women's singles at the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In the men's draw, Kidambi Srikanth, who is ranked world No 11, is seeded ninth.
Kidambi Srikanth, whose stature has grown immensely following a phenomenal 2017, was nominated for the prestigious Padma Shri award by former Sports Minister Vijay Goel.
In the men's draw, HS Prannoy, went down to giant-killer Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.
Leading Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth won their first round matches in contrasting style at the Star Australian Open Superseries in Sydney on Wednesday.
Jonatan Christie gifted Indonesia the Asian Games gold medal they most yearned for when he beat Taiwan's Chou Tienchen in an exciting men's singles badminton final in front of a vociferous home crowd on Tuesday.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal's ascent to the top of women's badminton was officially confirmed.
'I think for the next generation to come up, we need to put a system in place which actually identifies and nurtures talent. We have grown exponentially but there is lot more which needs to be done' 'It's not only my academy, all academies across the country are running full. There are many, many parents who want their kids to give up everything and concentrate on badminton'
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday.
Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu advanced to the semi-finals of the China Open after defeating local favourite He Bingjiao in straight games at the $700,000 Super Series Premier event, in Fuzhou, China, on Friday.
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.
India's campaign at the China Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament ended as P V Sindhu and H S Prannoy crashed out of the women's and men's singles after straight-game defeats in their respective quarter-finals, in Changzhou, on Friday.
India's mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Chopra and N Sikki Reddy reached the second round but it was curtains for men's singles shuttlers at the Singapore Super Series, on Wednesday.
PV Sindhu survived a scare against Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi before prevailing 19-21, 23-21, 21-17 in a thrilling singles match that lasted an hour and 27 minutes.
Parupalli Kashyap shocked World No 1 Chen Long to make it to the semi-final of the Indonesia Super Series Premier badminton tournament.
Two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Saina Nehwal continued her impressive run, progressing into the women's singles semi-finals with a straight-game win over unseeded Korean Lee Jang Mi at the Asia Badminton Championship in Wuhan, on Friday.