Having stunned world No. 5 Jan Jorgensen in straight games, Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth said he was well-prepared with his strategy against the Dane that helped him secure a quarter-final spot at the Rio Olympics.
While Olympic and two-time World Championship silver medallist, Sindhu stamped her authority with a 21-12, 21-15 win over Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the second round, Srikanth got the better off Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto in a three-game match.
Fifth seeded Sindhu, who made early exits from China and Korea last month, has been pitted against Michelle Li, who remains a tricky customer despite the fact that Sindhu has a 5-2 head-to-head record against the world no 9 Canadian.
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.
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.
Indian shuttler HS Prannoy stunned reigning Olympic champion Lin Dan of China while Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap also crossed the opening hurdle to enter the second round of the USD 275,000 French Open Super Series.
Kidambi Srikanth, the centre of attention in the Rio Olympics on Wednesday, can take heart from Hyderabad city mate P V Sindhu for his men's singles quarter-final clash against Chinese badminton icon Lin Dan.
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa suffered a loss in the second round, going down fighting 23-21, 8-21, 17-21 to sixth seeded Indonesian pair of Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii.
Kidambi Srikanth continued his giant-killing spree while Saina Nehwal hardly broke a sweat to advance to the pre-quarterfinals of the USD 350,000 Hong Kong Super Series in Kowloon on Wednesday.
Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal said the triumph at the China Open Super Series Premier was one of her "toughest" and it showed that the hard work was paying off.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Badminton World No 1 Lee Chong Wei hinted that retirement was on the horizon after the emotional Malaysian sealed his 10th national championship in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
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.
Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal may have hit global headlines with their big wins against China's superstars of badminton but sadly they have not made it into the state-run Chinese media, which played down their herculean achievement.
'The Chinese will be gunning for revenge now after Sindhu's victory.'
Marin Carolina has come a long way to be the reigning Olympic and world champion but the Spaniard yearns for more as she continues her journey towards becoming the best-ever in the sport.
Legendary Prakash Padukone was revered as the world number one player during his hey days before the modern day computerised ranking system was introduced.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
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.
While Saina made short work of USA's Beiwan Zhang, second seed Sindhu had to dig deep to get the better of Japanese Sayaka Sato.
World champion Chen Long avoided a potential first-round exit at the All-England Championships on Wednesday and blamed an uncomfortable pillow for a sluggish start to his campaign.
From a laidback boy with poor dietary habits, Kidambi Srikanth has become an attacking player who can quickly deploy his considerable skills against tough opponents, writes Anand Datla
China's Chen Long stepped out of compatriot Lin Dan's shadow to spoil Lee Chong Wei's hopes of a golden Olympic swansong and win the men's badminton title in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday.
Young Kidambi Srikanth continued his meteoric rise in world badminton as he ended the season by becoming only the third Indian male shuttler to break into the top-five, reaching a career-high fourth after hovering in the 40s in the beginning of the year.
Three-time champion Lee Chong Wei was sensationally beaten by India's B Sai Praneeth in the first round of the All-England Championships on Wednesday, putting a firm dent into his preparations ahead of the Rio Olympics . The Malaysian second seed was beaten 24-22 22-20, which ended a promising few months where he had won his last four events. "I can't believe I lost in the first round," Lee told reporters. "I had pressure to win but I made mistakes and I'm shocked at how well he played. "This is a real learning curve for me." Lee, the former world number one, was playing his first All-England since 2014 following his eight-month drug suspension ended last year. Praneeth, however, clawed his way back from 11-3 and 15-7 deficits in the first game to take control of the match and hailed the win as his best result. "It is a big shock for me too and after the last rally I cannot believe that I won," said Praneeth, who set up a last 16 clash with Denmark's Hans-Kristian Vittinghus.
Far from mourning the end of her brief reign as the world number one, shuttler Saina Nehwal is happy that she at least made it to where no other non-Chinese could reach in the last four years.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Kidambi Srikanth is against any drastic changes in the scoring system being contemplated by the world body.
India's ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanth feels the Swiss Open win has put him on course for a first-ever Olympic qualification but says he needs maintain consistency to make the cut for the 2016 Rio Games and achieve World No. 1 ranking.
National badminton coach, Pullela Gopichand, on Wednesday expressed happiness at the performance this year of Indian shuttlers and termed Kidambi Srikanth's feat of winning four Super Series titles as 'phenomenal'.
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.
Newly-crowned Korea Open champion P V Sindhu dished out another splendid performance edging past Japan's Minatsu Mitani for the second time in as many weeks to reach the second round of the women's singles at the Japan Open Super Series, in Tokyo, on Wednesday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Kidambi Srikanth and two-time bronze medallist P V Sindhu will headline a 21-member Indian contingent as they gun for the elusive gold medal at the World Badminton Championships starting in Glasgow on Monday.
Far from mourning the end of her brief reign as the World No 1, shuttler Saina Nehwal is happy.
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.
Srikanth credits Gopichand for all recent success - the two back-to-back Super Series titles and says, 'My focus is on World Championships, not thinking of rankings'
'I think it was a fantastic game for me. I started off really well in the first game but he was playing well in the second game, leading 11-6 at the break and fighting it out. But overall, I think my game was going great, my attack was going well for me'
Recovering from an ankle injury, star India shuttler Saina Nehwal said she will look to get back to her full fitness during the three weeks break after the India Open next month.
World No. 11 Kidambi Srikanth overcame some stiff resistance in the second game from lower ranked Mexican rival Lino Munoz before winning his Group H clash in straight games in the badminton singles event at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, on Thursday night.
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