India's H S Prannoy faced stiff resistance before prevailing against local hero Daren Liew to advance to the second round of the Malaysia Open, in Kuala Lumpur, on Tuesday.
Parupalli Kashyap advanced to the men's singles quarter-finals at the Korea Open after a hard-earned victory over Malaysia's Daren Liew, in Incheon, on Thursday. The Indian shuttler prevailed 21-17, 11-21, 21-12 in 56 minutes.
Up against Shruti Mundada in the pre-quarters, Saina had a look at the surface and immediately made it clear that she won't risk playing on it given that the All England Championships are around the corner.
No Indians featured in the women's doubles and mixed doubles rankings.
Norma Godinho challenges sporting know-it-alls.
Top seed K Srikanth suffered a straight-games defeat, but three other Indians, including Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy, advanced to the second round of the US $120,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold on Tuesday.
India have been drawn with top seeds and defending champions China, Thailand and hosts Finland for the upcoming Sudirman Cup badminton tournament, making it a tough Group A for the side to negotiate.
Pusarla Sindhu romped into the final of the World Badminton Championships, trouncing China's Chen Yu Fei 21-7, 21-14 in semi-finals, in Basel, on Saturday.
Returning to action after a break, double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu saw off Turkey's Neslihan Yigit in straight games to join compatriots Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma in the second round of the Denmark Open in Odense on Tuesday.
Services remained on top of the medal table with 41 gold, 28 silver and 26 bronze for a total of 95. Haryana won four of the five gold medals in archery to consolidate their second place with 29 gold.
Following is India's schedule at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, July 24.
Deepika and Atanu form the mixed team and they kickstarted their training
India's shuttlers enjoyed a mixed day at the Australian Open Super Series as Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, P V Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth progressed to the second round but four others were knocked out in the first round itself, in Sydney, on Wednesday.
P V Sindhu secured her fifth World Championships medal following a stunning comeback while B Sai Praneeth became the first Indian male shuttler in 36 years to grab a podium place in badminton's prestigious event, in Basel, on Friday.
Denmark's 2017 World Champion Viktor Axelsen and home favourite Okuhara Nozomi, who won bronze at Rio 2016, are also among the star names.
Besides Srikanth, the other players withdrawn are Ashwini Ponnappa, Ritika Rahul Thkar, Treesa Jolly, Mithun Manjunath, Simran Aman Singh and Khushi Gupta.
World champion PV Sindhu made an early exit from the China Open but B Sai Praneeth kept the Indian flag fluttering with a hard-fought straight-game win to reach the men's singles quarter-finals.
P Kashyap insisted that he too has an outside chance of qualifying for the Tokyo Games but he has no way to pursue it as he can't train at the camp.
Winning an elusive Olympic gold in Tokyo next year is PV Sindhu's top priority but reigning world champion's immediate target is to do well in the coming tournaments as this is the qualifying year for the quadrennial extravaganza.
The unseeded Indian beat the 11th seed 21-11, 13-21, 21-7 in a second round match that lasted an hour and two minutes.
The star Indian pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be the key attraction in the men's doubles category. However, they are set to face a stiff competition as the line-up includes the three-time world champion and world No. 2 Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan alongside another Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, who are currently ranked eighth in the world.
Scheduled to be held in Denmark from October 3 to 11, the Thomas and Uber Cup will mark the resumption of international badminton after it was brought to a halt in March because of the dreaded virus.
Rio Olympics gold medallist Carolina Marin won her trump game after facing some anxious moments against Ashwini Ponnappa as Hyderabad Hunters defeated Bengaluru Smashers 4-3 in a sea-saw Premier Badminton League contest in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Saina Nehwal lost to reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin but her side Awadhe Warriors still beat Hyderabad Hunters in a Premier Badminton League encounter at the Gachibowli indoor stadium in Hyderabad on Monday.
P V Sindhu on Monday said she received congratulatory message from chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand but she has not got any such gesture yet from senior shuttler Saina Nehwal following her bronze medal winning feat at the Tokyo Olympics.
Rio Olympics silver medallist P V Sindhu began her campaign at the Tokyo Olympics with an easy 21-7, 21-10 victory over Israel's Ksenia Polikarpova in her first singles group match on Sunday.
Two players withdrawn from India Open due to COVID-19
Top seed Saina Nehwal and her compatriot B Sai Praneeth crashed out of their respective quarter-final matches to draw curtains on India's challenge at the the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament on Friday.
'Coaches have been trying to create match situations like when it is 18-all or 19-all. I am focusing on how I have to play and win those moments, so I hope it will help.'
Two-time Olympics medallist P V Sindhu opted out citing post-Olympics recovery.
Badminton's Tokyo rankings frozen as BWF rules out any more qualifying tournaments.
The sixth seed and world No. 6 Indian needed 42 minutes to get the better of Beiwin Zhang of the United States, ranked eight places below her, 21-14, 21-17.
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.
It was a day of mixed fortunes for India's badminton players at the $120,000 US Open Grand Prix Gold tournament as Sai Praneeth sneaked into the quarter-finals after a hard-earned victory while compatriots Ajay Jayaram and R M V Gurusaidutt lost their respective men's singles matches.
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.
Sporting fraternity hails Sindhu's historic World C'ships gold
PV Sindhu crashed out of the ongoing Thailand Open in the opening round
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.
India's campaign came to a halt at the Vietnam Open Grand Prix badminton tournament after Sameer Verma went down to second seed South Korean shuttler Lee Hyun-il in straight games in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Friday.
Satwik-Chirag dished out a gritty performance to outwit the local favourites a