India's batting great Sachin Tendulkar celebrated Diwali at his home in Mumbai on Saturday, while Olympic medallists like Saina Nehwal and MC Mary Kom took to social media to wish their fans.
India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal accused the sport's administrators of placing money above players' safety by continuing last week's All England Championships despite the coronavirus pandemic. The 30-year-old lost in the opening round of the marquee event, which was among a handful which continued even as the bulk of global sporting calendar was either postponed or cancelled.
Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap have urged badminton's governing body to reconsider its decision not to extend the qualification period for the Tokyo Games despite several events being cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will spearhead the women's challenge in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games while London Olympics bronze winner Saina Nehwal did not expectedly feature in the squads.
Former World No 1 Saina, the London Olympics bronze medallist, lost 14-21, 21-17, 17-21 to World No 2 Yamaguchi in a 50-minute women's singles clash.
Some sportsstars kept celebrations simple while some ushered in the Festival of Lights in style.
The unseeded Indian duo had to toil hard for 58 minutes to win its round of 16 clash
Saina had pulled out of the opening round of All England Open Championships last week after suffering a thigh injury.
Parineeti Chopra plays the Olympic bronze medallist in the film directed by Amole Gupte.
Saina Nehwal was the cynosure of all eyes in a lovely wine velvet sari.
After Taapsee Pannu, Neha Dhupia, Mandira Bedi and badminton star Saina Nehwal, it is Varun Dhawan's turn to head out to the Maldives.
This is also India's third Olympics medal in badminton - Saina Nehwal had won the bronze at the 2012 London Olympics.
Former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal will miss the World Championships for the first time in her international career due to multiple injuries that have derailed her season.
Photographer Pradeep Bandekar catches showbiz folk going about their business.
The 29-year-old Saina, an Olympic bronze medallist, had finished runner-up in the tournament last year, losing to Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu-Ying in the final.
Despite being predictable and sluggish at some places, Saina seems like something Parineeti Chopra would be proud of, notes Prateek Sur.
PV Sindhu advanced to the quarterfinals of Badminton Asia Championships
'Let's be the strength of our nation and help it reach greater heights.'
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.
The absence of double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu, London Games bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also hurt India's prospect as the team cut a sorry figure at the team-tournament.
An Indian team which is a nice little blend of youth and experience, will have to punch above its weight in what's going to be an arduous challenge in the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships here on Sunday.
The former world number one said she tried contacting the BWF, but got no response from the badminton world body.
14-year-old squash sensation Anahat Singh, among the youngest to represent India at the upcoming 2022 Commonwealth Games, hopes to bump into her role model P V Sindhu over the course of her stay in Birmingham.
The couple invited superstar Chiranjeevi for their wedding ceremony.
The Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament, one of badminton's last two Olympic qualifying events, was on Friday postponed due to a recent COVID-19 surge in the host country, dealing a severe blow to the Tokyo hopes of Indian stars like Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth.
India's Saina Nehwal on Saturday crashed out of the Orleans Masters after losing in the semi-final against Denmark's Line Christophersen, in Paris on Saturday.
Sindhu now leads 3-0 against the Chinese on head-to-head.
The Indian men's team, led by Srikanth, had beaten powerhouse and 14-time champions Indonesia in the final to win the country's maiden Thomas Cup title on Sunday.
Since the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, India has won 28 medals in total, and 23 since its Independence in 1947.
Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth will meet compatriot HS Prannoy in his opening match, while former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap will square off against a qualifier.
India's campaign at the BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament ends after Srikanth, Prannoy and Verma were knocked out earlier in the day.
Indian badminton stalwarts P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal suffered contrasting fortunes at the Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament, the former progressing to the second round and the latter bowing out after losing her opener in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday.
Top shuttlers, including Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, are likely to leave for Malaysia and Singapore via Doha to participate in the last two Olympic qualifiers next month due to travel bans imposed by the two countries in the wake of unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases in India.
Earlier, BWF and Badminton England had delayed the start of the event by a couple of hours following a 'significant number' of inconclusive COVID-19 test results.
Saina Nehwal was forced to retire midway through her opening match but India's young brigade produced a clinical display to notch up a fine 3-2 win over Spain and get off to a winning start in the Uber Cup in Aarhus, on Sunday.
India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty outclassed Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe of Japan in straight games to enter the men's doubles final at the French Open.
The Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy clarified that it played no role in Saina Nehwal shifting from the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad to Bengaluru to train under Vimal Kumar ahead of the Rio Olympics, saying the move was the "sole decision" of the ace shuttler.
Krishna and Vishnu had paired for the first time in this event and would be pleased with the results they managed.
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