B Sumeeth Reddy, a member of the 2022 Commonwealth Games mixed team silver medal-winning squad, has announced his retirement as an active badminton player to focus entirely on coaching.
Tan Kim Her's voice was tinged with emotion as he reflected on the journey of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the two men he paired and who fondly call him "Daddy".
The Indian pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy beat Japanese duo Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa 23-21, 21-11 to win their 2nd group B match on Saturday.
Fourth-seeded Rahul surpassed compatriot Karan Rajan Rajarajan 21-15, 21-13 in the summit clash to lay claim to the title at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium on Saturday.
Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth will lock horns with Japan's Koki Watanabe, while Sourabh Verma faces France's Toma Junior Popov.
HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma and Sourabh Verma are the men's singles players who have decided to withdraw while doubles specialists Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy have also opted out. Leading Indian women's singles players PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal - both previous Olympic medallists - are making the trip to England, as are their male counterparts Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth.
The Attri and Reddy duo made light-weight of their opponent
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.
Indian men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy stunned Olympic silver medallists Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia to enter the quarterfinals of the $ 700,000 Japan Open badminton tournament, in Tokyo, Wednesday.
Star shuttler HS Prannoy on Saturday questioned the criteria for Arjuna Award selection, saying knowing people who can push a nomination is more important than performances on court.
Seventh seed Sindhu lost 14-21 18-21 to Bing Jiao in the women's singles.
Their dreams of a maiden Grand Prix gold title went up in smoke after the Indian men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy suffered a straight-game loss in the final of the US Open badminton tournament in New York on Sunday.
It was yet another forgettable outing in Tokyo for Praneeth, following his struggles at last year's Olympic Games where he participated without a proper coach or physio to eventually bow out early.
Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Ajay Jayaram continued their good run and reached the quarterfinals of the season-opening Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold in Sarawak on Thursday.
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.
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.
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.
BAI cancels preparatory camp.
Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram crashed out of the Russian Open on Saturday after incurring a straight-set defeat against Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto in the semi-final of the Grand Prix badminton event in Vladivostok, Russia on Saturday.
Besides Srikanth, the other players withdrawn are Ashwini Ponnappa, Ritika Rahul Thkar, Treesa Jolly, Mithun Manjunath, Simran Aman Singh and Khushi Gupta.
India will be sending full teams for the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold (May 30-June 4), Indonesia Open Super Series (June 12-18) and Australian Open Super Series (June 20-25).
India witnessed another fruitful day at the Canada Open as all its shuttlers, including Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy, entered the third round of the $55,000 Grand Prix badminton tournament, in Calgary, Canada.
Two players withdrawn from India Open due to COVID-19
Rio Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu jumped two places to achieve her career-best ranking of seven, while Saina Nehwal was also back in the top 10, in the latest BWF World Ranking.
Sindhu dished out a compact game to outwit Sayaka 21-17, 21-16 in a second round match on Thursday to set up a clash with seventh seeded Chinese He Bingjiao.
India's shuttlers, including London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, expressed shock after reports emerged that a sparring partner of the Taiwanese national team, who was in Birmingham during the All England Championship, tested positive for the coronavirus.
India's shuttlers continued their good run at the Canada Open. Six singles players, including Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy, qualified for the quarter-finals in the US $55,000 Grand Prix badminton tournament, in Calgary.
Srikanth, now ranked five, was placed seventh before the Malaysia Open, where he lost his last-four clash to the reigning Asian champion Kento Momota.
It was curtains for India at the Scottish Open after men's singles player Anand Pawar and men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy bowed out of the 50,000 Grand Prix badminton tournament, in Glasgow.
India's top shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, on Wednesday, suffered shocking first-round exits from the Malaysia Open Super Series in Kuching.
It was a tough day for the Indian shuttlers barring Ajay Jayaram, who sailed into the men's singles semi-finals with a comfortable win over compatriot Anand Pawar in the US Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in El Monte.
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.
Rankireddy and Shetty, who created history on Sunday by becoming the first Indian men's doubles pair to win a BWF Super 500 tournament, are placed ninth in the men's doubles rankings issued on Tuesday.
Star Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal sailed into the second round of the Singapore Open with straight-game wins over their respective rivals in the women's singles event on Wednesday.
Rio Olympics silver medallist P V Sindhu will look to shrug off the disappointment of last week's second round exit at Denmark Open and eye her maiden Super Series women's singles title when she competes at the French Open this week. The sixth seeded Indian, who had lost to Japan's Sayaka Sato in second round at Odense, will open her campaign against Hong Kong's Yip Pui Yin at Stade Pierre de Coubertin.
Saina Nehwal remained static at second position while Kidambi Srikanth dropped a place to be at ninth spot in the world badminton rankings released on Thursday.
The Indian combination of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa disappointed in their opening outing in the women's doubles at the Rio Olympics badminton event, losing in straight games to the world No. 1 Japanese pair of Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsumoto on Thursday.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu is set to fly out of London on Sunday -- she will reach Bangkok via Doha.
Indian shuttlers had a bad day in office as Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy failed to cross the opening hurdle at the prestigious All England Championship in Birmingham on Wednesday.
Saina lost 9-21, 12-21 in the women's singles clash that lasted just 24 minutes