No Indian athlete since Independence has won multiple medals at a single Games.
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.
'The prospect of witnessing the divine presence of Lord Ram is something we are eagerly looking forward to.'
Indian badminton stalwarts P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal suffered contrasting fortunes at the Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament, the former progressing to the second round and the latter bowing out after losing her opener in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday.
The Bollywood star takes tips from the athlete she will play in Amole Gupte's biopic.
Saina Nehwal was the cynosure of all eyes in a lovely wine velvet sari.
'Can't justify my tone and words'
Sindhu was made to toil hard by China's He Bing Jiao
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu is set to fly out of London on Sunday -- she will reach Bangkok via Doha.
Saina showed signs of regaining her form on her way to a sensational win over Chinese world number 9 He Bing Jiao
Malvika Bansod pulled off a sensational straight-game victory over Paris Olympics bronze medallist Gregoria Mariska Tanjong of Indonesia in the women's singles opening round.
This is Saina's first win over the South Korean, who got the better of the Indian in the quarter-finals of the French Open last year.
On Wednesday, Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, seeded eighth, scraped past the Denmark duo of Amalie Magelund and Freja Ravn 21-9, 17-21, 21-19 in the women's doubles.
Badminton's Tokyo rankings frozen as BWF rules out any more qualifying tournaments.
Saina Nehwal was forced to retire midway through her opening match but India's young brigade produced a clinical display to notch up a fine 3-2 win over Spain and get off to a winning start in the Uber Cup in Aarhus, on Sunday.
Former India badminton coach Vimal Kumar reckons a tough journey awaits Saina Nehwal, who will need to target specific tournaments to prolong her career after the COVID-19 pandemic shattered her Tokyo Olympics dreams.
Nehwal ended her journey in the tournament while Mia will proceed to the quarterfinals.
India's campaign at the BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament ends after Srikanth, Prannoy and Verma were knocked out earlier in the day.
Saina Nehwal, who settled for a silver medal in the Denmark Open, thanked her team for supporting her throughout the tournament, especially her fiancee.
India's badminton stars Saina Nehwal and Purapalli Kashyap are all set to tie the knot on December 16.
whenever the actress has stepped out, she's made sure to keep it stylish and uber glam.
Tata group has been a constant in India's sporting landscape and the conglomerate's involvement only grew under Ratan Tata.
London Olympics bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal resumed training at a separate facility in Hyderabad after the COVID-19-induced break and is likely to join the national camp at the Sports Authority of India-Pullela Gopichand Academy in a couple of weeks.
Top shuttlers, including Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, are likely to leave for Malaysia and Singapore via Doha to participate in the last two Olympic qualifiers next month due to travel bans imposed by the two countries in the wake of unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases in India.
Badminton is not as popular as cricket in India and therefore comparatively does not attract as many sponsors.
Two-time Olympics medallist P V Sindhu opted out citing post-Olympics recovery.
Saina facing visa issues for Denmark Open, seeks help from External Affairs Ministry
Saina Nehwal made a perfect start to the new season, reaching the women's singles final of the $ 350,000 Indonesia Masters with a thrilling straight-game win over world no 4 Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand in Jakarta, on Saturday.
Saina had pulled out of the opening round of All England Open Championships last week after suffering a thigh injury.
H S Prannoy stunned World No 10 Kanta Tsuneyama while ace Indian women shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal also sailed into the second round of the Malaysia Masters, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday. World Championships bronze-medallist B Sai Praneeth and the seasoned Kidambi Srikanth, though, bowed out of the men's singles events.
The Indian was ousted in straight games as she suffered a 21-16, 21-13 defeat in 40 minutes.
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.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu stormed into the women's singles second round at the Swiss Open with a straight-game win over Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt in Basel.
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu are on a collision course at next week's World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, as they have been placed in the same half after the world governing body re-conducted the women's singles draw.
Kashyap, a Commonwealth Games champion, was trailing 8-14 in the third game when he chose to retire after pulling his calf muscle.
The Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy clarified that it played no role in Saina Nehwal shifting from the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad to Bengaluru to train under Vimal Kumar ahead of the Rio Olympics, saying the move was the "sole decision" of the ace shuttler.
Pullela Gopichand called P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal -- his two most successful pupils -- as 'precious diamonds'.
In a tweet on Saturday night, Nehwal, who is a member of the BJP wrote, "Hearty congratulations for thumping victory in Zila Panchayat Chairperson election in UP @myogiadityanath sir."
It was a quiet birthday for India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal, who celebrated the special day in 'isolation' with her husband Parupalli Kashyap at her home in Hyderabad, on Tuesday.
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