Sachin Tendulkar marvelled at India's rise in newer disciplines, while Abhinav Bindra paid tribute to all those who "silently carry the athletes forward" as the two icons offered their views on India's sporting growth on National Sports Day.
With the Premier Badminton League all set to kick-start on January 2, India top shuttler PV Sindhu said the new format of 15-point games will make the ties interesting and keep the shuttlers on their toes.
The 2nd season of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) has been scheduled to be held from January 1-14, 2017 with Hyderabad hosting the opening games and Delhi the finale.
Top stars Saina Nehwal and Lee Chong Wei were the costliest buys, fetching the maximum prize of 100,000$, while Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth were bought for a whopping 95,000$ and 80,000$ respectively at the rechristened Premier Badminton League (PBL) players' auction on Monday.
Chennai Smashers put up a clinical display to outplay Delhi Acers 4-3 and register their second consecutive win in an exciting Premier Badminton League (PBL) encounter in Lucknow on Tuesday.
Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk produced a superb comeback against Ajay Jayaram in the deciding fifth rubber to help Chennai Smashers edge out Mumbai Rockets 4-3 in a thrilling final to clinch the Premier Badminton League season 2 title.
PV Sindhu still has the hunger to succeed, and the primary aim is to help her regain consistency, says her new coach Anup Sridhar, who has been roped in by the two-time Olympic medallist on a trial basis following the Paris Games.
In a 73-minute battle, Ayush, who hails from Sanoor near Karkala in Karnataka, showed his grit as he recovered from a game down to outwit his Indonesian opponent.
Sathish Kumar wins men's singles title, Tanisha-Dhruv claim mixed doubles crown at Odisha Masters
It's going to be a hell of journey, says Sindhu welcoming new coach Hafiz Hashim
Meet Olympic silver medalist Mathias Boe.
Olympic champion Carolina Marin kicked-off the second edition of Premier Badminton League, on Sunday, in style winning a closely contested encounter against PV Sindhu guiding Hyderabad Hunters to 4-3 win over Chennai Smashers.
Saina Nehwal's comeback may have ended with a gruelling opening round loss at the China Super Series Premier in Fuzhou but the London Olympics bronze medallist said she was satisfied with the way she played.
Ace shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa, on Wednesday, said that Indians do not do well in mixed doubles in the international stage as the male partners always want his female team-mate to play in a fixed position.
Sindhu said she is working on her technique to iron out the flaws.
PV Sindhu recorded a consolation win over China's He Bingjiao in the third Group A match to end her campaign on a positive note
World No 2 Saina Nehwal suffered a crushing defeat in Awadhe Warriors' Trump match as Mumbai Rockets stormed into the finals with an emphatic 3-0 win in the second semifinals of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) at the Gachibowli indoor stadium, in Hyderabad, on Friday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Star India shuttler PV Sindhu was stunned by North Eastern Warriors' Michelle Li in straight games as former champions Hyderabad Hunters' made a disappointing start to its home leg of the Premier Badminton League in Hyderabad on Wednesday. World champion Sindhu suffered an 8-15, 9-15 defeat against World No 10 Canadian Li in a lop-sided women's singles contest.
Gupta, 56, was a Rajya Sabha member and was minister for steel in the United Progressive Alliance government.
Sindhu' Hyderabad Hunters and Tai Tzu's Bengaluru Raptors can meet each other on January 31 in the third leg in Hyderabad.
When Bollywood star Akshay Kumar joined hands with Premier Badminton League (PBL), only entertainment was expected.
P V Sindhu, K Srikanth, Ajay Jayaram, Subhankar Dey, B Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma scored easy first round singles victories, while the pair of Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa shocked a fancied Malaysian pair to enter the second round of the women's doubles.
Recovering from an ankle injury, star India shuttler Saina Nehwal said she will look to get back to her full fitness during the three weeks break after the India Open next month.
Back in action after recovering from a knee injury, star shuttler Saina Nehwal says she needs good match practice to be at her best in the prestigious All England Championship in March. "I am happy with my improvement. My movements are still sluggish. I still need good match practice," she told reporters here late last night after losing to top-ranked shuttler Carolina Marin in a Premier Badminton League (PBL) match. Saina had sustained an intra-articular injury (inside the joint) in her right knee and had lost in the group stage in the Rio Olympics. She later underwent a surgery and was on rehab.
Young men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty too entered the quarter-finals after getting past Chinese Taipei's Liao Min Chun and Su Ching Heng 21-17, 21-16 in the second round.
Saina, who has been battling illness and injuries, is going through a bad patch, having lost six times in the first round this season.
The Attri and Reddy duo made light-weight of their opponent
Olympic silver medallist shuttler PV Sindhu admitted that there is more responsibility on her shoulders post the Rio Games as everyone now wants her to achieve more laurels for the country. Sindhu, who was here to receive Rs 30 lakhs from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) as prize money for winning silver in Rio Olympics, said she is focused on keeping things simple despite the responsibility. "Definitely there is more responsibility and everybody's eyes are on me to achieve more. That is there but I said to myself I should not take too much pressure. My aim is to keep playing well. After the Olympics, I have won a Superseries and I have done well," the lanky Hyderabadi shuttler said.
All eyes will be on Indian ace Saina Nehwal when she returns to the court after an injury lay-off at the All England Championship, hoping to better last year's runner-up finish at the prestigious event which begins with the qualifiers in Birmingham.
With the two teams locked 2-2 in the overall tie after the first the three matches, it was left to their respective mixed doubles pairs to push them ahead.
Two-time World Championship bronze-medallist, India's P V Sindhu made a rousing start to the new season as she clinched the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold title after defeating Scotland's Kristy Gilmour in straight games in the final, in Penang, on Sunday.
Disappointing the spectators at the Sardar Patel NSCI Stadium, Saina Nehwal pulled out of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) opener between Awadhe Warriors and Mumbai Rockets, citing a foot injury.
World No.2 Saina Nehwal notched up a comfortable straight-game victory in their Trump match over P C Thulashi in the women's singles event to guide Awadhe Warriors to a convincing victory over Delhi Aces in their Premier Badminton League (PBL) match in Lucknow on Monday.
However, Srikanth squandered a one-game advantage to go down 23-21, 16-21, 17-21 to fourth seed Korean Son Wan Ho in the men's singles quarter-finals that lasted an hour and 12 minutes.
A keen contest is on the cards when world's top woman shuttler Carolina Marin crosses swords with India's PV Sindhu in the inaugural match of Premier Badminton League between Hyderabad Hunters and Chennai Smashers on Sunday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
Olympic and World Championship silver medallist P V Sindhu feels the experimental service law in badminton could have come at a better time.
India's top shuttler Saina Nehwal was not part of the action but Awadhe Warriors still proved to be good enough for Hyderabad Hunters, as they eked out a 4-3 win in the Premier Badminton League (PBL) in Hyderabad on Saturday night.
India's P V Sindhu hopes no one will ever question her ability to win big titles, relieved at breaking the finals jinx with a historic triumph at the World Tour Finals in Guangzhou.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances