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.
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.
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.
The 26-year-old is now the lone Indian survivor in the BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament.
Srikanth had entered the finals of Commonwealth Games last year but he failed to reach the summit clash in any BWF superseries or BWF World Tour tournament since his French Open win in October, 2017.
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.
Sen will now face the winner of the other quarter-final match between Olympic champion and top seed Viktor Axelsen and India's Kidambi Srikanth on Saturday.
Former world No. 1 Saina, who missed a lot of tournaments last year due to multiple injuries, moved to the second round after her opponent, Czech Republic's Tereza Svabikova, suffered a back injury and retired mid-way while trailing 20-22, 0-1 in an opening round match.
India have been drawn with top seeds and defending champions China, Thailand and hosts Finland for the upcoming Sudirman Cup badminton tournament, making it a tough Group A for the side to negotiate.
P V Sindhu will be eager to return to the podium as former winner Saina Nehwal looks to regain her touch
It was day of mixed results for India at the US$750,000 Denmark Open Super Series in in Odense on Friday, as Kidambi Srikanth fought back brilliantly to shock World No 1 Victor Axelsen and enter the semis after Saina Nehwal crashed out of the event following her quarter-final loss to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi.
Sindhu and Saina will once again be India's best bet as they look to put up a good show this week.
'Since I arrived in Sydney I have gastroenteritis and have had diarrhoea, so I have not been at my best physical condition'
Many believe the Thomas Cup victory can do for badminton what the 1983 World Cup triumph did for cricket in India.
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.
The Birmingham showpiece will be held from July 28 to August 8.
Returning to action after a break, double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu saw off Turkey's Neslihan Yigit in straight games to join compatriots Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma in the second round of the Denmark Open in Odense on Tuesday.
Kidambi Srikanth scored a stunning straight-games victory over world No. 4 Lee Zii Jia but Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen suffered a shock defeat in the opening round of the Japan Open Super 750 badminton tournament, in Osaka, on Wednesday.
Coach Vimal Kumar compared this triumph to India's 1983 Cricket World Cup win, hoping it will spur the popularity of badminton.
Ajay Jayaram, who skipped the ongoing Korea Open, slipped a place to be at 17th.
In the mixed doubles event, Satwiksairak Rankreddy and Ashwini Ponnappa started their campaign on a winning note. The duo beat the German combine of Marvin Seidel and Linda Efler in straight games 21-14, 31-19.
Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki N Reddy also won their mixed doubles first round match, beating Denmark's Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje 10-21, 21-16, 21-17.
PV Sindhu had a below-par outing as Japan's Akene Yamaguchi beat the World Championship silver medallist 21-14, 21-9 in a thoroughly one-sided semi-final of the French Open Super Series, in Paris, on Saturday.
P Kashyap insisted that he too has an outside chance of qualifying for the Tokyo Games but he has no way to pursue it as he can't train at the camp.
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 ace shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after notching up contrasting victories in the men's singles competition of the $ 120,000 German Grand Prix Gold in Mulheim an der Ruhr.
Indonesian coach Agus Dwi Santoso has been roped in to guide the singles players -- both men and women -- ahead of Tokyo Olympics. Badminton Association of India (BAI) secretary, Ajay Singhania said the visa process has started and Santoso is likely to join the Indian team in the mid of next month.
Kidambi Srikanth, the top-ranking male Indian shuttler who put up an impressive performance in the Badminton Asia Team Championships here, says he aims to achieve a medal in the coming Rio Olympics. "As early as possible, but I am not in a hurry to do that (achieve number one rank in world rankings). It's just that I need to perform consistently. "Then, I will automatically get that. I don't want to become number one (immediately). I want to perform really very well. That's when I can be there (at the top)," the 23-year-old shuttler told PTI. Srikanth, who is currently ranked nine in the world, led the Indian team to semi finals of the Badminton Asia Team Championships. He was the only one to win a match in the five-match tie in the semi finals against Indonesia on Saturday. Srikanth remained unbeaten in the tournament. He said he doesn't think much about expectations.
Indian ace shuttler HS Prannoy produced a remarkable performance as he breezed past Malaysia's Joo Ven Soong to progress through to the second round of the China Masters here on Tuesday.
The celebration of this historic feat was not yet over when Indian shuttlers scripted yet another jaw-dropping show in Birmingham, returning with six medals, including three golds, a silver and two bronze medals in August.
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.
How India's athletes fared on Day 1 of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
India's top shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the semi-finals of the Korea Open Super 500 badminton tournament with contrasting wins in Suncheon on Friday.
Sindhu progressed to the quarterfinals with an easy straight-game win over Japan's Aya Ohori
Top Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy were knocked out of the 18th Asian Games after suffering shock defeats in the second round of the men's singles competition, in Jakarta, on Friday.
'The Indian badminton team has scripted history'
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal on Monday stressed on the importance of taking necessary precautions in the next two weeks to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has created a global upheaval. Former World No 1 Kidambi Srikanth also took to twitter, urging people to help each other instead of panicking.
Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy said the mentality of not giving up without a fight kept him motivated during the epic victory over Denmark in the Thomas Cup semi-finals on Friday.
The star Indian pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be the key attraction in the men's doubles category. However, they are set to face a stiff competition as the line-up includes the three-time world champion and world No. 2 Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan alongside another Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, who are currently ranked eighth in the world.
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