The Indian women's badminton team crashed out of the Uber Cup after losing to Japan in the quarter-finals in Aarhus, Denmark on Thursday while the men completed their group engagements in the Thomas Cup with a defeat to China.
Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, P V Sindhu, K Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap reached the second round of Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament after scoring easy victories in Lucknow.
Saina, who has been battling illness and injuries, is going through a bad patch, having lost six times in the first round this season.
'Jaan hai to jahaan hai' 'It's a good decision because everyone is disturbed. Athletes' health is paramount'
Three Indian shuttlers tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the All England Championship while a few are awaiting confirmation on their inconclusive samples as India's campaign has been thrown into chaos before the start of the tournament, starting in Birmingham on Wednesday.
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.
Nehwal has had a troubled run in this year as she has now faced exits from a tournament in the first round five times.
Ace tennis player Sania Mirza said India still needs to do a lot more to bring women at par with men in sports, though the country has come a long way in this aspect.
India's campaign in the women's singles of the $350,000 Hong Kong Super Series came to an end after ace shuttler Saina Nehwal was stunned by Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals.
Returning to action after nearly two months, Saina, who made last-minute withdrawals from Indonesia Open and last week's Japan Open because of injuries, got past Chaiwan 21-17, 21-19 in her opening round contest.
The victory at the Syed Modi International tournament in Lucknow helped London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal to surge two places to reach the seventh position in the latest world badminton ranking, released in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
Her recovery from a knee injury going on smoothly, India's star shuttler Saina Nehwal is hoping to return to the courts by the end of next month.
Saina Nehwal underwent a scan to diagnose her Achilles tendon problems and has been prescribed rest for a couple of weeks.
Pusarla V Sindhu proved too good for Canada's Michelle Li in the women's singles badminton final to win her maiden Commonwealth Games gold medal, in Birmingham, on Monday.
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.
Sindhu will play her opening match on Sunday, while B Sai Praneeth and the men's pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be in action on Saturday.
On World Environment Day, the actors showed the world how to go plastic-free.
World No. 1 Saina Nehwal survived a scare before prevailing over Thailand's Busanan Ongbumrungphan in the opening round of the Denmark Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament on Wednesday.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal says the Glasgow World Championship made her realise that she needs to work harder on her stamina and beat tougher players to regain her place among badminton's top-10.
Saina Nehwal guided the Indian women's team to a dominating 5-0 win over Germany to stay on course for a knockout berth in Uber Cup, but the men's team suffered a narrow 2-3 defeat against Hong Kong, staring at an early exit in Thomas Cup badminton tournament in Kunshan, China.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal stands just a win away from clinching her second title of the year after she stunned World No. 2 Chinese Shixian Wang in a gruelling semi-final of the Star Australian Super Series in Sydney.
Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal, who made an early exit from the Rio Olympic Games, will undergo a knee surgery in Mumbai on Saturday. Saina, the 2012 London Games bronze medallist, tweeted a picture of her prescription page, announcing the surgery time at a city hospital. "Surgery tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 6 am friends pls pray for me," Saina tweeted.
World Championship silver-medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal is aiming to remain injury-free and excel in all the Super Series tournaments in the run up to next year's Rio Olympics.
Assured of atleast a bronze at the World Badminton Championship, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal described her quarterfinal win as "special" and said patience was the key to her success.
India's Olympic silver medalist pistol shooter, Vijay Kumar will be the flag-bearer for the country during the opening ceremony of 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Satwik-Chirag dished out a gritty performance to outwit the local favourites a
Saina Nehwal has the last laugh after all the nigles and the unsavoury controversy involving her father's accreditation at the Commonwealth Games.
Indian women made a stupendous start to their campaign at the Uber Cup badminton tournament by thrashing Australia 5-0, in Kunshan, on Monday.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on the ninth day of the Asian Games, on Monday.
PV Sindhu crashed out of the ongoing Thailand Open in the opening round
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal wants to qualify for the Dubai World Superseries Finals after resuming her partnership with long-time mentor and chief coach Pullela Gopichand.
Expectations from the Indian male shuttlers will also be high, given their exploits in recent months.
London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal said that unheralded Brazilian opponent Vicente Lohaynny "surprised her" as the first round at major events are always "tricky and difficult to play".
India's campaign at the All England Badminton Championships came to a disappointing end with Saina Nehwal, B Sai Praneeth, Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma all exiting from the tournament in Birmingham on Friday.
Saina, who was looking good at the start of the season, was diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis with mild pancreatitis which affected her performance at the All England Championship.
With Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu in good form, India will surely win at least three medals from badminton in the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, says Jwala Gutta, the country's No 1 doubles player.
India's top shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will be seen in action for the first time since the coronavirus-forced break when they compete in three upcoming tournaments in Bangkok, including the prestigious BWF World Tour Finals.
Sindhu, a 2019 World Champion, lost 14-21, 21-15, 14-21 to Zhang in a match that lasted 55 minutes.
Former World No 1 Saina Nehwal asserted her supremacy over Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu with a straight game victory to enter the semi-finals of the USD 350,000 Indonesia Masters, in Jakarta on Friday.
Saina Nehwal and reigning champion Sameer Verma were a step away from clinching the men's and women's singles titles respectively
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