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.
Eight seeded Saina defetaed Okuhara 21-15, 21-14 late last night to improve her head-to-head record to 6-1 against her Japanese opponent.
The 29-year-old Olympic bronze medallist and World No 9 went down 16-21, 23-21, 4-21 to her 19-year-old opponent in the women's singles match.
PV Sindhu cruised into the second round but compatriot Saina Nehwal bowed out fighting in the Badminton Asia Championships.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal's ascent to the top of women's badminton was officially confirmed.
Fourth seeded Sindhu took 39 minutes to get the better of World No 22 Mia 21-13, 21-19, her second straight win over the Dane.
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal snapped her 15-month title drought, clinching the Syed Modi International India Grand Prix Gold badminton crown with a straight-game victory over compatriot P V Sindhu in the women's singles competition in Lucknow on Sunday.
The Sports Ministry on Monday decided to recommend ace shuttler Saina Nehwal for the Padma Bhushan award but insisted that it did not receive her nomination from the Badminton Association of India (BAI) within the stipulated deadline.
Indian star shuttler Saina Nehwal regained the No 1 spot in the latest Badminton World Federation rankings.
The Hong Kong Open finalist, Sameer reached the quarter-finals with a shocking 21-17, 21-15 win in a 40-minute match.
PV Sindhu appears 'vulnerable' on the counter-attack and that is a big factor in her losing many a title clashes, including recent loss to Saina Nehwal in the singles final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, observed former India coach Vimal Kumar.
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu got off to winning starts in their season, notching up straight-game victories in their respective opening round women's singles matches in the $500,000 Malaysia Super Series Premier on Wednesday.
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal stormed into the quarterfinals of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament with a straight game win over of Petya Nedelcheva of Bulgaria in Basel.
Nine-year-old reader Sravya Shivani met badminton ace Saina Nehwal in Hyderabad.
Sachin Tendulkar and other eminent sporting stars congratulated Saina Nehwal on becoming the first Indian woman shuttler to attain the world number one ranking in badminton.
Saina Nehwal's semi-final jinx continued as she suffered another defeat against her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women's singles at the Malaysia Super Series Premier, in Shah Alam, on Saturday.
Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap have urged badminton's governing body to reconsider its decision not to extend the qualification period for the Tokyo Games despite several events being cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
H S Prannoy outwitted World No 2 and title favourite Kidambi Srikanth in a thrilling final to win the men's singles title at the 82nd Senior National Championship, in Nagpur on Wednesday.
It was double delight for India as crowd favourites Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth clinched their maiden women and men's singles titles at the India Open Super Series badminton tournament in New Delhi.
London Olympics bronze-medallist Saina trounced Malaysia's Jin Wei Goh 21-12, 21-14 in 37 minutes to set up a women's singles quarter-final with 2013 World champion and second seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand. In the men's singles, Srikanth defeated Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro 21-19, 21-12 in 34 minutes.
Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth sailed into the semi-finals of the of the $ 120000 Thailand Grand Prix Gold after registering a straight-game win over local player Kantaphon Wangcharoen in Bangkok on Friday.
Indian shuttlers had a mixed day in the opening round of the China Open with Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu easing into Round II, while Kidambi Srikanth and Ajay Jayaram making early exits.
Shraddha Kapoor is all set to essay Saina Nehwal in a biopic based on the badminton champion's life that will be directed by Amole Gupte and produced by Bhushan Kumar.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal survived a scare in her campaign opener as she struggled past Indonesia's Lindaweni Fanetri in an energy-sapping three game thriller at the Indonesian Super Series Premier in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone feels Saina Nehwal has achieved more than Sania Mirza vis--vis performance because of the fact that she has beaten more higher-ranked players than the tennis ace.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal advanced to the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Super Series Premier tournament with a comfortable straight-game win over local favourite Fitriani Fitriani in the women's singles event in Jakarta on Thursday.
A dream All-England title may have slipped through her fingers, but Saina Nehwal insisted on taking the positives out of the prestigious badminton tournament, saying the consistency and overall improvement in her will help her to do well in the season ahead.
Star shuttler Saina Nehwal will donate Rs 2 lakh for the people affected by the heavy rains and flood in Tamil Nadu.
Despite clinching the Macau Open title for the third time, India's ace shuttler P V Sindhu remained static at 12th position in the latest BWF world ranking released on Thursday. Saina Nehwal also held on to her number two position but a poor run of form saw K Srikanth lose a spot and slip to World No. 9.
The hype around tennis ace Sania Mirza may be bigger but ace shuttler Saina Nehwal clearly has the edge in terms of performance, feels badminton legend Prakash Padukone.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
India's Saina Nehwal lost to Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying 21-16, 18-21, 21-14 and was knocked out of the BWF World Superseries Final in Dubai on Friday.
Still recovering from a foot injury and a recurring fever, defending champion Saina Nehwal has pulled out of the women's singles competition at the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Lucknow.
'I didn't really like the way media put it that I have demanded the award. Who am I to demand for the award? I am nobody. I just wanted to know why my name was not considered'
Saina Nehwal crashed out of the All England Championship after her gallant fight against World No. 3 Korean Sung Ji Hyun ended with a narrow 20-22, 20-22 loss in the women's singles quarter-finals of the Super Series Premier event in Birmingham.
Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal stood just one win away from clinching her maiden China Open title after she stormed into the finals of the USD 700,000 Super Series Premier tournament in Fuzhou.
The disappointing exit from the Beijing Olympics quarter-final last year still rankles ace Indian woman shuttler Saina Nehwal who on Saturday said winning gold in the prestigious quadrennial sporting event remains on top of her agenda. Saina praised coach Pullela Gopichand for her meteoric rise in the world rankings.
Raising hopes for a medal in next month's London Olympics, Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal on Sunday won the Indonesia Open Super Series title after beating world number three Xuerui Li of China in a hard-fought summit clash in Jakarta.
Two-time champion Saina Nehwal demolished Ji Hyun Sung of Korea in straight games to storm into the final of the Indonesia Open Super Series badminton tournament for the fourth consecutive year in Jakarta on Saturday.
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