Shuttlers in the singles competition have to be inside top-16 of world rankings to qualify for the Olympics. The cut-off for doubles is also top-16.
Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap emerged as the lone survivor at the Japan Open in an otherwise disappointing day for India as top shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth made an early exit from the Super Series tournament in Tokyo, on Thursday.
In an open letter, BWF secretary general Thomas Lund said the decision to go ahead with the All England Championships was made based on the best advice at that time. "It has been very disappointing to see some members of the badminton community speculate on the sincerity and motives of the BWF in this time of crisis," Lund wrote.
Fifth seed Sindhu will now look to avenge her All England loss against Korea's Sung Ji Hyun, whom she faces next, while Srikanth will meet Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab on Thursday.
It will not be a Saina Nehwal versus P V Sindhu final in the women's singles but the men's singles will be an all-Indian affair with P Kashyap and K Srikanth set to clash for the title at the $120,000 Syed Modi International Badminton tournament, in Lucknow.
Saina Nehwal, who won a bronze at the World Championship, jumped four rungs to be placed at the 12th spot, while Kidambi Srikanth also improved two positions in the latest BWF World ranking.
Rio-bound Indian women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will look to boost their confidence ahead of the Olympic Games when they start their title defence at the Canada Open badminton tournament, starting in Calgary on Tuesday. 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallists, Jwala and Ashwini didn't have the best results in the run up to the Rio Olympics and the duo will look to put their best foot forward when they take the court here with just a little more than a month to go for the Games.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
P V Sindhu and K Srikanth have been given the top billing in the respective women's and men's singles badminton competitions of the Commonwealth Games
Sindhu and Saina will once again be India's best bet as they look to put up a good show this week.
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal's poor form in the international arena continued as she crashed out of the $300,000 Singapore Super Series after losing to Eriko Hirose of Japan in a hard-fought three-game battle in her opening round women's singles match in Singapore.
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa suffered a loss in the second round, going down fighting 23-21, 8-21, 17-21 to sixth seeded Indonesian pair of Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii.
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.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Wednesday said it might freeze the world rankings for a while as it works on a "fair solution" to the Olympic qualification process after the coronavirus pandemic forced a postponement of the Tokyo Games to 2021. There have been growing calls to freeze the world rankings after cancellations and postponements wrecked the sport's calendar. Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, B Sai Praneeth, Parupalli Kashyap and H S Prannoy have been leading the way in expressing concerns.
Newly-crowned India Open champions Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth continued their rampaging international run, notching contrasting victories to enter the second round of the US $500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Sindhu suffered a shock defeat to lower-ranked Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei
P V Sindhu and H S Prannoy entered the quarter-finals of the women's and men's singles respectively in the Macau Grand Prix Gold after hard-fought victories on Thursday. However, it was curtains for B Sai Praneeth, who went down fighting to Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia, in his third round men's singles match.
PV Sindhu jumped two places to grab the ninth spot, while former World No. 1 Saina, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from a serious injury, slipped five places to 11th spot.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, on Saturday, felicitated 2018 Commonwealth Games medallists Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu among others at Pragathi Bhavan.
PV Sindhu dominated from start to finish and smashed her way into the second round of the prestigious All England Badminton Championships, in Birmingham, on Wednesday.
India's hopes of winning a medal in badminton team events at the 18th Asian Games went up in smoke after the men's and women's sides bowed out of the competition following identical 1-3 defeats in the quarter-finals in Jakarta on Monday.
Saina, who has been battling illness and injuries, is going through a bad patch, having lost six times in the first round this season.
India has huge expectations from these champions. Rediff.com's Laxmi Negi and Norma Godinho glance at their chances at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Rio Olympics quarterfinalist K Srikanth emerged as the lone survivor at the Japan Open after he reached the last eight stage of the men's singles competition at the Super Series event in Tokyo on Thursday. However, it wasn't the sort of victory that Srikanth would have ever wished for as his match against compatriot Ajay Jayaram was stopped midway after the 28-year-old Mumbai-based shuttler injured his left ankle.
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.
Expectations will be sky-high when Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu returns to international circuit this week, spearheading the Indian campaign at Denmark Open Superseries Premier badminton tournament starting in Odense from Tuesday. A slew of felicitation programs kept her busy in the last one and a half month after Sindhu returned from Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first Indian badminton player to win a silver and her legions of fans will expect her to replicate the Olympic success when she competes this week. The sixth-seeded Indian will open her campaign against China's He Bingjiao on Wednesday. Sindhu has been clubbed in the second half of the draw where she might face the likes of second seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, Korean fourth seed Sung Ji Hyun and the tricky Chinese Taipei girl Tai Tzu Ying, seeded fifth.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated shuttler Kidambi Srikanth after he clinched his second Super Series Premier title by lifting the Indonesia Open men's singles trophy in Jakarta.
'Today, the State is permanently going after politicians, but also civil society, academics and all those it is threatened by or irritated with.'
The world body has so far maintained that it has no plans to make any adjustments to the regulations related to the Tokyo Games qualification period and that other events will go as per schedule.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu continued to reach new heights as she became the second Indian woman to break into the top 5 in the latest BWF World Rankings.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal moved one place up to occupy the fifth spot while P V Sindhu remained unchanged at 10th in the latest Badminton World Federation Rankings issued on Thursday. Saina, who clinched her second Australian Open title earlier this month, exchanged places with Japan's Nozomi Okuhara, who now occupies the sixth spot in the women's singles list headed by Spain's Carolina Marin.
P V Sindhu and Anand Pawar kept India's hopes alive by making it to the semi-finals of the women's and men's singles event of the India Open Super Series Badminton Championship.
Fifth seeded Sindhu, who made early exits from China and Korea last month, has been pitted against Michelle Li, who remains a tricky customer despite the fact that Sindhu has a 5-2 head-to-head record against the world no 9 Canadian.
Top shuttlers Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu and national champion K Srikanth continued their rampaging run with contrasting victories to reach the semi-finals of the $120,000 Syed Modi International India Grand Prix Gold tournament in Lucknow.
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.
India's ace shuttler P V Sindhu did the star turn, winning two matches as Chennai Smashers outclassed Ahmedabad Smash Masters 2-1 in the Premier Badminton League in Chennai, on Saturday.
The World No 6 will next face Spain's Pablo Abian on Wednesday.
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