Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal's confidence is back after winning the India Grand Prix Gold.
Four years after a bronze at London Games made her the toast of the nation, Saina Nehwal will once again carry a billion hopes when she along with the other six shuttlers, including doubles exponent Jwala Gutta, begin their campaign at the Rio Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, on Thursday.
Saina Nehwal thrashed Indonesia's Pia Zebadiah Bernadet to enter the women's singles final in the Yonex Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament on Saturday. The world No 14-ranked Indian, who became the first Indian woman to win a four-star badminton tournament at the Philippines Open in 2006, won the semi-final 21-7, 21-11.
The London Olympics bronze medalist looked in a playful mood as she joked around with her coffee.
Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal dished out a dominating performance to post a straight-game win over two-time All England Champion Shixian Wang of China and start her campaign on a positive note at the season-ending BWF World Super Series badminton final in Dubai.
Take a look at what fit-again Saina needs to do before going into the Olympic Games in August this year.
While about 8,000 people are in the long list of invitees, the select list features 506 A-listers, including prominent politicians, leading industrialists, top film stars, sportspersons, diplomats, judges and high priests.
2023 was marked by outstanding sporting achievements, shattered records, and the crowning of new champions, all captured by photographers documenting every significant twist and turn.
The 'Pran Pratishtha' of the idol of Ram Lalla -- the childhood form of Lord Ram -- will be attended by people from all walks of life, including representatives of major spiritual and religious sects of the country and of various tribal communities and prominent personalities.
Satwik-Chirag pair achieves career-best world no. 2 ranking
Manjunath will play Taipei's Yu Jen, who was lucky to progress after fifth seed Rasmus Gemke retired in the second game after pocketing the first.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal on Sunday said India has adequate infrastructure for badminton but don't have enough coaches and academies. "There is no problem on infrastructure front, but what we don't have enough number of academies and coaches, like the Chinese have," she told PTI. Saina has been practising in Bengaluru after recovering from a knee injury which had affected her progress at Rio Olympics. She had lost her second group match against Ukraine's Maria Ulitina to crash out of the mega event.
In the quarterfinals, Lakshya will face Malaysian qualifier Leong Jun Hao.
Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth's woeful run continued as they suffered first round exits
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Battling an inconsistent form, double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu on Tuesday slipped five places to world number 17 in the latest BWF world rankings.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty achieved a career-best world number three
As Kidambi Srikanth lost his second round match, India's campaign ended at the Singapore Open.
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.
However, four of her compatriots, including double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu and World Championships silver winner Kidambi Srikanth, progressed to the quarterfinals of their respective events.
The National Commission for Women has asked Twitter to block the account of actor Siddharth for his alleged 'lewd and inappropriate' tweet against badminton player Saina Nehwal and also wrote to the Maharashtra police seeking registration of an FIR against him.
The core of the team remains the same with HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in good form and the Indian team would hope the rub of the green also goes their way when it begins campaign on Thursday.
Sindhu is the only Indian to feature in the women's singles competition.
Indian women's badminton star Saina Nehwal crashed out of the women's singles competition in the first round after a loss to China's Zhang Yiman. She lost the match 17-21, 21-19,11-21. After being a game down, Nehwal made a comeback in the second game but lost the final one.
The struggle of Indian women shuttlers on the BWF circuit is quite apparent, but Saina Nehwal backs her colleagues by saying that even the strong Chinese players are finding it difficult to dish out strong performances on a consistent basis and expressed hope that the lean patch of the singles players will end soon.
Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore, Hitesh Harisinghani and Afsar Dayatar return moist-eyed, elevated, after spending an evening with clowns and derring-do stunt artistes at Rambo Circus.
In the upcoming German Open, Lakshya Sen will spearhead India's challenge at the Super 300 tournament.
A R Rahman, Mahesh Babu, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan and Sania Nehwal among others were part of the farewell party on Sunday.
Kidambi Srikanth made a winning start but PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy were ousted
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In a tweet on Saturday night, Nehwal, who is a member of the BJP wrote, "Hearty congratulations for thumping victory in Zila Panchayat Chairperson election in UP @myogiadityanath sir."
H S Prannoy stunned two-time defending champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in a thrilling 68-minute quarter-final to ensure a medal for India.
Prannoy signs off with maiden World Championships bronze medal after losing semifinal to Vitidsarn
Last week, Kashyap had shared pictures from their Maldives holiday.
However, Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand bowed out of the tournament after losing their opening women's doubles match in straight games.
The Indians, who were also Asian champions, defeated the current world champions in 43 minutes.
The fifth seed Indian lost 21-12, 10-21, 19-21 in his opening round men's singles tie that lasted 56 minutes.
If Sindhu and Saina win their respective second round matches, they will face each other in the quarter-finals.
Saina Nehwal produced a fine performance to kick-off her BWF World Championships campaign with a straight game win over Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi.
Reacting to Nehwal's tweet almost one-and-a-half-hour later, Rashtriya Lok Dal president Chaudhary tweeted, "Sarkaari shuttler recognises BJP skill in smashing peoples' verdict! I think voters need to play a subtle drop shot on celebs trying to influence their decisions!."
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