Paris Olympics gold medallist An Se-young beat Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21-15, 21-12 in the last four of badminton's World Tour Final in Hangzhou on Saturday to set up a title clash with defending champion Wang Zhiyi.
India will host the World Championships for the first time since 2009, with the event seen as a key test of the country's ability to deliver large-scale international tournaments as it eyes the 2036 Olympics.
Former champion Lakshya Sen produced a composed and tactical performance to advance to the quarterfinals of the $950,000 India Open Super 750 badminton tournament but Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy bowed out after a spirited show, in New Delhi, on Thursday.
Haven't seen anything bad: Srikanth defends India Open playing conditions
Star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen stunned fifth seed Christo Popov of France in straight games to enter the men's singles pre-quarterfinals at the $475,000 Hylo Open Super 500 tournament in Saarbrucken, Germany, on Wednesday.
Young Indian shuttler Ayush Shetty put up a spirited fight before going down in three games against France's Toma Junior Popov on a disappointing day for the Indians at the Denmark Open Super 750 badminton tournament, in Odense, on Tuesday.
Lakshya Sen exits, Mannepalli keeps Indian hopes alive at Arctic Open
Lakshya, the 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, eased past compatriot S Subramanian 21-14, 21-11, while Rakshitha overcame Shriyanshi Valishetty 19-21, 21-8, 21-13 in another all-Indian contest that clocked 58 minutes.
Satwik and Chirag, who finished runners-up in last week's Hong Kong Open, eked out a 24-22, 21-13 victory over Malaysia's Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap in 42 minutes
Kidambi Srikanth entered the quarter-finals of Malaysia Masters after defeating Ireland's Nhat Nguyen in his second-round match but H S Prannoy bowed out with a straight game loss.
Kidambi Srikanth entered the semi-finals of Malaysia Masters with a hard-fought three-game win over Toma Junior Popov of France.
Prannoy fought back to level at 13-13, but Popov surged ahead as the Indian crumbled.
'Geopolitically and diplomatically it's a very difficult situation for India.'
Given the Indian duo's struggles with fitness and injury over the last few weeks, this was a commendable win.
Special Ops 2 captures the spirit of the modern-day spy thriller and runs with it, observes Deepa Gahlot.
Sindhu, Prannoy advance to second round of Singapore Open
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand entered the quarter-finals of the Swiss Open Badminton Championship with a straight-game victory over Germany's Amelie Lehmann and Selin Hubsch.
Rakshitha Sree Santosh Ramraj lost to Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark 12-21, 12-21 to bow out of women's singles quarterfinals.
Uzbekistan earn first World Cup qualification, Australia, Jordan close in
Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian caused a major upset by knocking out World No 2 Anders Antonsen of Denmark in a thrilling three-game contest to reach the men's singles quarter-finals.
Saudi Arabia took third place in Group C and will feature in a fourth phase of qualifiers in October alongside Indonesia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Oman.
The 2-2 draw in Riffa left Australia second in Asia's Group C on seven points, nine behind runaway leaders Japan and one ahead of Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and China.
"It has been a great season for FC Pune City and thanks to Coach Ranko Popovic for making it memorable. His belief in the club's ethos, especially the youth, was remarkable and it helped us achieve a lot and unearth the hidden talent in our system," said club's CEO Gaurav Modwel.
The Russian, winner of swimming's blue riband event at two Olympics and two world championships, is far from a spent force
Malvika will next face eighth seed Denmark's Julie Dawall Jakobsen in the last four encounter.
The Russian beat Olympic successor Pieter van den Hoogenband and the great Ian Thorpe to regain his 100 metres freestyle title at the world championships.\n\n
The Olympic 100 freestyle champion and world champion foundered in Thursday's heats.
Former Nigeria international Jay-Jay Okocha has signed a one-year contract with Qatari first division team Sports Club, while Australia's Tony Popovic is also moving to the Gulf state.
Lakshya had struggled through much of 2023 and early part of 2024. He fell behind in the qualification race but turned things around in time with two semi-final finishes at the All England Championship and the French Open to seal his place in the Olympics.
Five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe will work with Gennadi Touretski, the former coach of Russian swimming great Alexander Popov, as he seeks to get back into peak form for next year's London Olympics after more than four years out of the pool.
A collection of stunning pictures from the Paris 2024 Games
India's Lakshya Sen and Priyanshu Rajawat suffered straight-game defeats in their respective pre-quarterfinal matches to crash out of the men's singles competition of the Indonesia Masters, a BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament, in Jakarta on Thursday.
The 22-year-old said adjusting to shuttle movement in a place near to the sea is different and he expects similar conditions in Paris, where he will travel on July 22.
It was a smooth performance from Sindhu as she was hardly tested by the Taiwanese qualifier
Lakshya Sen suffered a stunning first round exit as India's challenge came to an end in the German Open.
The world No. 6 Indian duo will next face Danish pair of Jeppe Bay and Lasse Molhede later on Friday.
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.
Lakshya Sen and Kiran George advanced to the second round but HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth made early exits after suffering narrow losses in their respective opening matches at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament in Jakarta on Wednesday.
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