A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Saina will next face either Thailand's fourth seed Ratchanok Intanon or Korea's Sung Ji Hyun, while Sindhu will take on the winner of the match between Sri Lanka's Kavidi Sirimannage and Thailand's Nitchaon Jindapol.
Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu continued their winning run at the Malaysia Open notching up contrasting victories to reach the quarter-finals of the women's singles competition at the USD 550,000 Super Series Premier tournament.
Saina Nehwal eschews the 'natural talent' tag thrust upon her by Indian media and says only hard graft and good coaching have given her the chance to turn the Olympic badminton bronze she won four years ago in London into gold at the Rio Games.
Expectations will be sky-high when Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu returns to international circuit this week, spearheading the Indian campaign at Denmark Open Superseries Premier badminton tournament starting in Odense from Tuesday. A slew of felicitation programs kept her busy in the last one and a half month after Sindhu returned from Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first Indian badminton player to win a silver and her legions of fans will expect her to replicate the Olympic success when she competes this week. The sixth-seeded Indian will open her campaign against China's He Bingjiao on Wednesday. Sindhu has been clubbed in the second half of the draw where she might face the likes of second seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, Korean fourth seed Sung Ji Hyun and the tricky Chinese Taipei girl Tai Tzu Ying, seeded fifth.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal and two-time World Championships bronze medallist P V Sindhu advanced to the quarter-finals, but it turned out to be a dismal day for star shuttlers Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei at the India Open Super Series in Delhi on Thursday.
In sizzling form after clinching the China Open and finishing runners-up at Hong Kong, Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu will look to sign off the year with another crown when she competes in the season-ending World Superseries Finals starting in Dubai from Wednesday. In Rio de Janeiro, Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win an Olympics silver medal in August, but qualifying for the Dubai World Super Series final still was a far cry as she was placed at 16th in the Destination Dubai Rankings with just two events -- China Open and Hong Kong Open -- remaining.
Saina Nehwal advanced to the second round with an easy victory, but it was a disappointing day for Indians overall, as Parupalli Kashyap and P V Sindhu failed to cross the opening round in the Hong Kong Super Series on Wednesday. Looking for her first title this season, world No 7 Saina hardly broke a sweat as she outplayed Indonesia's Bellaetrix Manuputty 21-14, 21-16 in 34 minutes.
The 25-year-old Indian, who clinched the Indonesia Open and Australian Open this year, besides reaching the final of the Singapore Open, defeated Wong 21-18, 21-17 at the Odense Sports Park.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal sealed a semi-final spot after a hard-fought victory but compatriot P V Sindhu crumbled under pressure to bow out of the women's singles competition at the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier tournament, in Shah Alam, on Friday.
World No. 3 Sindhu beat World No 8 Chen, 21-15, 21-18 in a 58-minute contest at the Sheikh Hamdan Indoor Stadium in Dubai.
It was a day when India counted the silvers, a total of five, even though there was no gold in the tally.
Saina Nehwal is better equipped to win a medal in Rio in August than the Indian shuttler was when she claimed a bronze at the London Olympics four years ago, former All England champion Prakash Padukone said.
Home-grown icons Saina Nehwal and P Kashyap, along with some international stars such as Lee Chong Wei, would be the top draws at the Indian Badminton League's players' auction to be held in New Delhi on Monday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
A rematch of the All England final between India's Saina Nehwal and world champion Carolina Marin is on the cards with the two stars given first and second seeding in the Yonex Sunrise India Open Superseries to be played from March 24.
Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal on Sunday headed for a gold medal showdown at the 18th Asian Games after their quarter-final victories ensured India's first ever women's singles medals at the continental event.
London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal scripted history by reaching the finals of the prestigious All England Badminton Championship with a straight-game victory over Sun Yu of China in the women's singles competition in Birmingham.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday.
PV Sindhu fought back in the 2nd game to down compatriot Saina Nehwal 21-16, 22-20 and book a berth in the Yonex-Sunrise India Super Series badminton tournament at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi on Friday.
The biggest upset of the day was produced by Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi, who knocked out Olympic champion and last year's finalist Carolina Marin 21-12, 21-19, in a 48-minute clash.
Indian women's badminton team scripted history as they reached the semi-finals of the Uber Cup tournament for the first time with a dominating 3-0 victory over Indonesia in the quarter-finals at the Siri Fort Sports complex.
China shrugged off badminton's biggest Olympic scandal to sweep all five titles at London four years ago but the Asian super-power is trying to keep a lid on expectations of another bumper gold medal haul at the Rio de Janeiro Games. The peerless team that set up the 'Great Haul of China' in London will line up almost unchanged at Rio, anchored by men's singles great Lin Dan and women's champion Li Xuerui. So strong were the Chinese in 2012 that they swept the titles without the reigning world champion women's doubles pairing of Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang, who were expelled from the tournament in disgrace.
H S Prannoy scored his second successive victory over three-time Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei, while Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth also registered contrasting wins to advance to the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open Super Series Premier, in Odense, on Thursday.
The 22-year-old, who has won a bronze at the 2013 and 2014 editions, disposed off Sun Yu 21-14, 21-9 in 39 minutes at the Emirates Arena.
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.
Bolstered by Australian Open triumph, India ace shuttler Saina Nehwal says she is now working on her half smashes under the watchful eyes of coach Vimal Kumar to get closer to the goal of winning a gold medal at next month's Rio Olympics. "The victory in Australia came at just the right time. I was really looking forward for some change and nothing boosts confidence like winning. I needed a win to keep believing that I am on the right track," the 26-year-old told PTI.
Saina Nehwal produced one of her finest performances in recent times to guide Indian women's team to a comfortable victory over Thailand and catapult the hosts to the top of Group Y in the Uber Cup badminton tournament in New Delhi.
India's chief badminton coach Pullela Gopichand says the draw hardly matters if the shuttlers are focused on gunning for a medal at the Olympics. He believes that it will boil down to two good back-to-back matches under pressure to earn a medal at the Rio Games, starting August 5.
'Saina and Sindhu are top contenders, but they will have to beat players who are playing solid badminton at this juncture.'
Defending champion Saina Nehwal upstaged Korea's Sung Ji Hyun to reach the semi-finals but it was curtains for P V Sindhu in the women's singles of the India Open Super Series, in New Delhi, on Friday.
Star India shuttler Saina Nehwal, who has recovered from a serious knee injury sustained during the Rio Olympics in August and is back on the international circuit, is still not at her physical best and needs more time to reach that high level, feels her coach Vimal Kumar.
'I have certainly gained the respect of my rivals by consistently maintaining my ranking inside the top-10 mark.' 'I have beaten all these top players at least once and there will be no fear factor when I face them at Rio.'
These athletes made India proud four years ago.
The Indian badminton team went down fighting against hosts South Korea (1-3) in the women's team badminton semi-finals to settle for their maiden bronze medal at the Asian Games in Incheon on Sunday.
India has never had so many highly-ranked shuttlers.
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