Seven Indian shuttlers, including Saina Nehwal and Jwala Gutta, officially earned qualification berths for the August Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after the much-awaited BWF world rankings were released on Thursday. Friday's rankings were used to determine the Olympic qualifiers in each of the five categories -- men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles -- from the points accumulated in the period between May 4, 2015 and May 1st, 2016. Four years ago, five Indians had qualified at London Olympics. This year, London Olympics bronze medallist Saina would be representing India in her third Games, while the women's doubles pair of Jwala and Ashwini Ponnappa will also play their second Olympics in August. Besides, K Srikanth and P V Sindhu earned their maiden Olympic berths in men's singles and women's events respectively. For the first time, India will have two women's singles players playing in the Olympics.
'Delhi voters have liked the politics of performance over noisy rhetoric and empty promises,' points out Vijaya Pushkarna.
India's top shuttlers have missed his court-side presence this year but national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand says he can't really help cutting down on travelling as that would come in the way of finding the next crop of world-beaters.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal shepherded the Hyderabad Hotshots to a comfortable 3-2 victory over Mumbai Masters in the inaugural Indian Badminton League at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex at Balewadi, Pune.
Indian contingent would be aiming to make it all good with strong medal-winning performances when the acutely-low-on-buzz Commonwealth Games start
Star shuttler Saina Nehwal would have rejuvenated after a one and a half month break following the IBL. The defending champion will now eye her maiden title of the season.
World Badminton Championships silver medallist Saina Nehwal feels her decision to shift base to Bangalore and train under Vimal Kumar turned out to be a masterstroke.
Age-fudging has been a big problem in Indian sports
London Olympics bronze medalist Saina Nehwal regained second place while Parupalli Kashyap continued his upward progress, earning two places to reach seventh in the latest world badminton rankings, on Thursday.
Following the World Cup, companies queue up to sign Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur.
Gymnast Dipa Karmakar and discus thrower Vikas Gowda were the other sport spersons to receive the honour on Thursday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal faces the prospect of an early exit from the BWF World Superseries Finals after going down to Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China in a Group B match in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
Saina Nehwal's semi-final jinx continued as she suffered another defeat against her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women's singles at the Malaysia Super Series Premier, in Shah Alam, on Saturday.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal inched closer to retaining her women's singles title, while other top Indian shuttlers, including P V Sindhu, also made it to the semi-finals of the $120,000 Syed Modi International Badminton tournament.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narendra Batra feels Sports Ministry should allow the parents of star shuttlers P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal to accompany them at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Considering the grand success of the inaugural IBL that has put a halo around Indian badminton, Saina Nehwal says the franchise-based meet should be held in such a way from next year onward that players don't miss out on any other major tournament due to burnout.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in hailing PV Sindhu's awe-inspiring performance at the World Championship, where she ended a silver-medallist after losing a breathtaking final.
Elated after an unbeaten run that helped Hyderabad Hotshots lift the inaugural Indian Badminton League trophy, Saina Nehwal said she expects the $1 million event to become as big as cricket's IPL in the coming years.
Led by Saina Nehwal, Hyderabad Hotshots defeated Awadhe warriors 3-1 to lift the crown of the inaugural Indian Badminton League at the NSCI Stadium on Saturday.
Led by Saina Nehwal, Hyderabad Hotshots defeated Awadhe warriors 3-1 in the final to win the inaugural Indian Badminton League, at the NSCI Stadium, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
Kashyap, who has been battling a series of injuries in the last few years, defeated Hao 21-7, 12-21, 21-18 in a match that lasted an hour and three minutes.
In the absence of top Chinese shuttlers, Indian ace Saina Nehwal has been seeded number one and handed a relatively easy draw in the upcoming Yonex Sunrise Indian Open badminton tournament, scheduled to be held in New Delhi from April 23-28.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal sailed into the semi-finals of the Indonesia Super Series Premier after a straight-games victory over Carolina Marin of Spain, in Jakarta, on Friday.
Former Olympic and World champion Taufik Hidayat feels that the emergence of the talented PV Sindhu will not only reduce the burden of expectations on Saina Nehwal but also make India a force to reckon with in women's singles category.
An upset stomach ruined her campaign at the World Championship last week, but Saina Nehwal is not too upset at missing the bronze.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal and rising star Arundhati Pantawane advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of Thailand Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament after notching up contrasting wins in the women's singles competition in Bangkok, on Wednesday.
Riding on her title-triumph at the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold, India's P V Sindhu, on Thursday, jumped one place to be just outside the top 10 in the latest BWF ranking.
The novel coronavirus outbreak has affected their Olympic preparations but India's top athletes like P V Sindhu and Bajrang Punia say they are optimistic about the quadrennial event going ahead as scheduled despite the current health crisis. Olympic silver-medallist Sindhu says she can understand the apprehensions of fellow shuttlers, including compatriot Sania Nehwal, who is racing against time to qualify for the Games due to the cancellation of tournaments in the wake of the outbreak. The Olympic Games are scheduled to start in Tokyo, from July 24.
Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal says the inclusion of former Olympic champion and her childhood hero Taufik Hidayat in her team Hyderabad Hotshots will serve as a moral booster in the upcoming Indian Badminton League.
Make space for another star, Saina Nehwal. P V Sindhu has arrived. While most girls her age would have just left their Barbies behind, Sindhu has excelled herself as a senior with her maiden Grand Prix badminton title in Malaysia last Saturday.
The World No 25 pair of Satwiksairaj and Chirag put a gallant fight in the second game but couldn't stop the two-time All England Champions from Indonesia, going down 12-21, 24-26 in a 42-minute match.
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.
Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal clinched the $700,000 China Open Super Series Premier tournament after beating young Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the summit clash, in Fuzhou, China, on Sunday.
Newly-crowned China Open champion P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal entered the quarterfinals of the women's singles competition at the Hong Kong Open Super Series tournament on a fruitful day for Indian shuttlers in Kowloon. Sindhu, who bagged her maiden Super Series Premier title last week at the China Open just months after winning the silver at Rio Olympics, trounced Chinese Taipei's Hsu Ya Ching 21-10 21-14, while Saina dished out a gruelling performance against Japan's Sayaka Sato to edge prevail 21-18 9-21 21-16.
Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal suffered a shock defeat in the Singapore Super Series, losing to Indonesia's Lindaweni Fanetri in the women's singles quarter-finals, on Friday.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal says the draw at the upcoming India Open badminton tournament is tough and progressing in the competition will not be a cakewalk.
Saina Nehwal scored a hard-fought victory over Eriko Hirose of Japan to enter the quarter-finals in the women's singles at the Singapore Super Series.
Saina Nehwal avenged her quarter-final defeat at the Thailand Open on Wednesday, beating Singapore's Juan Gu in straight games in the opening round of the Singapore Super Series. The World No 2 Indian ace needed only 40 minutes to pack off Juan, ranked 21, winning 21-14, 23-21 and registering her fifth victory over the local player.
Congratulate Indian badminton's golden girl P V Sindhu who continued her golden run in 2016 as she triumphed at the China Open to win her maiden Super Series title
The Indian contingent's schedule at the Rio Olympics for Thursday.
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