Our current players just need to develop a bit more physically: Saina Nehwal
India's leading shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of the All-England badminton championships, losing to China's Li Xuerui in the quarter-finals in Birmingham on Friday.
Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu shocked World No. 2 Wang Zhi Yi of China to storm into the quarterfinals of the World Championships, in Paris on Thursday.
Olympic-bound shuttler Shon Wan Ho of Korea showcased a stunning display of true grit to shock defending champion Lee Chong Wei in the summit clash and clinch his maiden Super Series title, at the India Open badminton tournament in New Delhi on Sunday.
PV Sindhu had burst onto the scene when as a 16-year-old she had stunned London Olympics gold medallist Li in the quarterfinals of China Masters.
The Indian ace, who attained a career-best No 1 after winning the India Open at the end of March, dropped a rung in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings, released on Thursday. Defeat in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier to reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China saw the London Olympics bronze medallist drop to No 2.
Pusarla Sindhu sent Indian fans into a frenzy by blasting through Japan's Nozomi Okuhara to reach the gold medal decider for the women's singles at the Olympic badminton on Thursday.
Reigning World champion and title favourite P V Sindhu sailed into the pre-quarter-finals at the China Open Super 1000 tournament with a convincing straight-games victory over former Olympic gold medallist Li Xuerui, in Changzhou, on Wednesday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal will lose her world No. 1 ranking after her gallant fight against Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the semi-finals ended in heartbreak at the $500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament.
Spain's Carolina Marin pulled off a monumental upset as she beat Chinese world number one Li Xuerui to win the women's singles title at the Badminton World Championships in Copenhagen.
Michael Schumacher "will remain an invalid for the rest of his life", said leading medical expert Erich Riederer.
India's rising badminton star P V Sindhu continued to take giant strides towards asserting herself as one of the best of Indian badminton by lifting the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold title with a thumping win over Canada's Michelle Li in the summit clash, in Macau on Sunday.
An upset stomach ruined her campaign at the World Championship last week, but Saina Nehwal is not too upset at missing the bronze.
Teenage Thai Ratchanok Intanon won her first badminton world championship title when she upset Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the women's singles on Sunday to end China's decade of domination in the event.
Riding on her maiden Denmark Open title triumph, India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal gained a position to climb up to third spot in the latest World badminton ranking announced on Thursday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has been nominated for the 2012 Female Player of the Year Award of the Badminton World Federation on the back of an impressive performance in the season which had seen her win a bronze medal in London Olympics.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, who earned India its first badminton medal at the Olympics winning a bronze at London Games, on Thursday regained her fourth position in women's world rankings released.
Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal attained a new high as she climbed to a career-best second in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released on Thursday.
India's rising badminton star P V Sindhu, who made headlines after her win over Olympic gold medallist Li Xuerui, draws inspiration from Saina Nehwal's on-court performances and wants to be as successful as the World No. 3 some day.
Saina Nehwal's hopes of winning her maiden 'World Super Series Finals title this year went up in smoke as she lost her semi-final clash against top seed and current Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China in a three-game encounter.
Rising Indian shuttler P V Sindhu has broken into the world's top 20 in the latest badminton rankings following her giant-killing exploits at last week's China Masters.
Rising Indian shuttler P V Sindhu's giant-killing spree came to a halt after she went down fighting to World No. 9 Jiang Yanjiao in the women's singles semifinals of the Li Ning China Masters Super Series badminton tournament in Changzhou on Saturday.
Rising Indian shuttler P V Sindhu continued her giant-killing run in the Li Ning China Masters Super Series, shocking London Olympics gold medallist Li Xuerui of China, to storm into the women's singles semi-finals on Friday.
Images of the gold medallists on Day 8 at the London Olympics.
China has omitted Asian Games singles champion Wang Shixian from their Olympic badminton team and picked 21-year-old talent Li Xuerui as the third and final entrant in the women's singles at the London Games.
Badminton's new dress code has irked some of the Chinese female shuttlers, who insist wearing a skirt hampers their on-court movement.
Women's world number one Wang Yihan suffered a stunning loss on Sunday in the final of the All England badminton championships, beaten 21-13, 21-19 by seventh-seeded Chinese compatriot Li Xuerui.
Top seed Saina Nehwal and P Kashyap entered the semi-finals of the women's and men's singles respectively in the Singapore Open Super Series badminton tournament in Singapore on Friday.
The 29-year-old Olympic bronze medallist and World No 9 went down 16-21, 23-21, 4-21 to her 19-year-old opponent in the women's singles match.
Japan's Nozomi Okuhara will be awarded the women's singles badminton bronze medal after China's Li Xuerui pulled out of their clash with a knee injury, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported on Thursday.
Saina dropped two spots to third in the women's singles list, and is placed below Spaniard Carolina Marin (80752), who rose a rung following her Australian Open title triumph.
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.
Adapting quickly to playing conditions at the Rio Olympics will pose the biggest challenge for players, says Saina Nehwal, who is aiming to better the badminton bronze she won in London four years ago.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal regained the No 1 position in the international rankings after China's Li Xuerui dropped a couple of rungs to third in the latest list, issued on Friday.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal suffered a heartbreaking narrow loss to Olympic Champion Li Xuerui in the semifinals of the India Open Super Series badminton tournament in New Delhi on Saturday. The 26-year-old Indian lost 20-22, 21-17, 19-21 to Li in an edge-of-the-seat thriller in the women's singles competition, to draw curtains on Indian challenge at the Siri Fort Complex. In a nail-biting contest, Saina matched up to Li in the fast-paced rallies but she was not consistent in finishing the rallies. Li, on the other hand, blew hot and cold as some of her cross court half-smashes caught Saina off-guard. Although she also faltered with many strokes. Saina opened up a 8-5 lead early on and managed to stave off the challenge from Li till 11-9. But the Chinese soon managed to draw parity with two quick points and then turned the tables, reaching 16-13. Saina roared back to level with a superb drop from the back court before Li found the net. The Chinese hit wide again and both were tied at 18-18. Another miscued smash and Saina was leading 19-18. What followed was an energy-sapping rally that ended with a return, which Saina didn't even try. But the Indian ensured she has the first shot to take advantage as she reached the game point with a smash that Li could only send to the net.
Sindhu, seeded second, defeated local favourite Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 23-21, 21-7 in 37 minutes to make the last-eight stage of her season-opener, while eighth seed Srikanth recorded a clinical 21-14, 21-9 win over Japan's Asian Games bronze medallist Kenta Nishimoto.
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.
PV Sindhu, who also won a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics, admitted that she felt bad when people said she has a 'final phobia'. She was desperate to win the World Championships title last year after a string of runner-up finishes
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, who regained the number one spot in international rankings, said it was a big achievement for her.
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.
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