Ace Indian shuttlers, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, had a disappointing start to their campaign at the BWF Super Series Finals as they suffered straight-game defeats on the opening day of the prestigious event in Dubai.
Three Indians will feature in the semi-finals of the French Open Super Series badminton tournament after Kidambi Srikanth, H S Prannoy and P V Sindhu won their quarter-final matches in Paris on Friday.
In the men's doubles however, the Indian pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila lost to 11th seeded Russian pair of Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov 11-21, 16-21 in a second round match that lasted 41 minutes.
Riding on her stupendous performance at the Australian Open Super Series, Indian ace Saina Nehwal jumped two places to reach the World No. six in the latest BWF ranking released on Thursday. The 26-year-old from Hyderabad, who clinched the Australian Open title -- her first of the season - last Sunday, now has 75,369 points in her kitty.
However, the Indian duo of Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan suffered a crushing 8-21, 4-21 loss to Denmark's Mathias Thyrri and Mai Surrow, the mixed doubles first round match lasting barely 21 minutes.
Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu stayed on course for an elusive gold medal, while Laskhya Sen entered his maiden final at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Sunday.
'Lot of things to learn from this, so definitely I will work on this and try and get better for next tournaments.'
HS Prannoy breezed into the quarter-finals with a stunning straight-game win over former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore but it was curtains for Kidambi Srikanth at the Japan Open Super 750 tournament.
Lakshya Sen said the win against reigning All England Champion Li Shi Feng gives him confidence and belief in the Olympic qualification year.
Sindhu, seeded third, was not at her usual best and trailed her Japanese opponent from the start in both the games.
Defending champion Kidambi Srikanth beat compatriot Sameer Verma 22-20, 19-21, 23-21 in an absorbing men's singles quarter-final to enter the semi-finals of the Denmark Open, in Odense, on Friday night. The Indian ace will meet second seeded Japanese and world No 1 Kento Momota, who got the better of Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab 21-13, 21-9 in another quarter-final.
'I have to be more consistent in the coming months,' Kidambi Srikanth, who won the Indonesia Super Series Premier and the Australia Super Series earlier this year and the Denmark Open on Sunday, tells Amit Kumar Das in Odense, Denmark.
Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth will meet compatriot HS Prannoy in his opening match, while former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap will square off against a qualifier.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met India's chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand
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.
Top Indian shuttlers, Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap crossed the opening hurdle to reach the second round of men's singles competition at the $120,000 German Grand Prix Gold in Mulheim an der Ruhr in Germany on Tuesday.
Chess champion Koneru Humpy has been nominated for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
Badminton players P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth carry India's medal hopes on Day 11 of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
India's decision to field World No 13 Sameer instead of Kidambi Srikanth in men's singles backfired as the former couldn't get going against Lee Zii Jia, losing 13-21, 15-21 in 48 minutes to allow Malaysia level the scores 1-1 after getting the lead with a win the mixed doubles.
Sportspeople across the country offered condolences to the families affected in the Visakhapatnam gas leak tragedy on Thursday.
None of the other three quarters boast of such a strong star cast but there would be a few mouth-watering opening round clashes to look forward to.
Star shuttler Kidambi Srikanth was disappointed after being called for a series of what he termed "ridiculous" service faults during his pre-quarterfinal match against China's Huang Yuxiang at the All England Championship.
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.
Though Sindhu decided against travelling to Denmark, she plans to participate in the Asia Open-I and Asia Open-II scheduled to be held in November.
The eighth seeded Indian, who had reached the final of India Open last week, blew a huge advantage in the opening game to eventually lose 18-21, 19-21.
Young Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth continued his rampaging run in Kowloon and set up a semifinal clash with top seed Chinese Chen Long at the Hong Kong Super Series.
Young Indian shuttler K Srikanth clinched his maiden Super Series title after defeating two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China in the men's singles of the $700,000 China Open Super Series Premier, in Fuzhou, China, on Sunday.
The top Indian players, including Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Srikanth have failed to lift the prestigious trophy
India's report card on the tenth day of the 2016 Olympics.
Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy advanced to the second round of the men's singles competition at the US$ 1,000,000 Indonesia Super Series Premier in Jakarta, on Wednesday.
Chirag said "it is difficult to stay motivated" in such uncertain times.
Srikanth made an attacking start after the change of ends, putting his smashes to good use, to lead 5-1. Two tight smashes on either side helped the Indian to maintain his lead to 8-3 before he entered the break with a healthy seven-point advantage when Axelsen went to the net.
Indian shuttlers continued their impressive show with top stars P V Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth progressing to the semifinals of their respective events in the 21st Commonwealth Games' badminton competition, in Gold Coast, on Friday.
The World No 6 will next face Spain's Pablo Abian on Wednesday.
India blanked Scotland 5-0 to enter the quarterfinals of the badminton mixed team event, displaying tremendous form en route to their third successive clean sweep at the Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, on Friday.
Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu was the Sportswoman of the Year award in the individual sport category, a statement read.
Kidambi Srikanth's hopes of a medal in the men's badminton competition at the Rio Olympics remain alive. India's sole men's singles player in the tournament scored hard-fought 21-19, 21-19 victory over world No. 5 Jan Jorgensen to enter the quarter-finals on Monday.
India ace Kidambi Srikanth was rewarded for his sensational run this season as he grabbed a career-best ranking of World No. 2 after jumping two places in the latest BWF ranking released on Thursday.
No Indians featured in the women's doubles and mixed doubles rankings.
Sen, who had emulated his mentor Prakash Padukone by winning the World championship bronze in Huelva, Spain last month, will now look to claim the All England Championships in March.
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