Top seeds Saina Nehwal and Chetan Anand cruised to the pre-quarterfinals even as three other top Indian shuttlers bite the dust at the India Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Chennai on Wednesday.
Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal were knocked out in the first round of the All England Badminton Championships.
Ace Indian women's shuttler Saina Nehwal wrote a new chapter in badminton history when she won the Indonesian Open Super Series in Jakarta on Sunday. The 19-year-old World junior champion beat China's world No 3 Wang Lin 12-21, 21-18, 21-9 to become the first Indian to win a Super Series event.
India has been battling a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced many countries to ban travellers from India.
It was supposed to be her best chance of winning the coveted title but Saina Nehwal let it slip as she went down in straight games to unseeded Japanese Eriko Hirose in the quarter-finals of the prestigious All England Badminton Championship in Birmingham.
Ace Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap reached the pre-quarterfinals of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold after notching up contrasting victories in the women's and men's singles competitions in Basel.
The shuttlers led by Saina Nehwal will make their first appearance in the Olympic Games on Thursday along with men golfers as India still waits for its first medal after five days of fruitless labour in this Brazilian city.
Seasoned Indian ace Saina Nehwal and the fast-rising H S Prannoy notched up contrasting wins in the women's and men's singles competition respectively to reach the All England badminton championships' second round at Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham.
A resurgent Saina Nehwal and fast rising PV Sindhu, country's best women shuttlers, set up a summit clash against each other at the Syed Modi International badminton tournament in Lucknow.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal is the first Indian woman to achieve the World No 1 ranking.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Indonesian coach Agus Dwi Santoso has been roped in to guide the singles players -- both men and women -- ahead of Tokyo Olympics. Badminton Association of India (BAI) secretary, Ajay Singhania said the visa process has started and Santoso is likely to join the Indian team in the mid of next month.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal moved one place up to occupy the fifth spot while P V Sindhu remained unchanged at 10th in the latest Badminton World Federation Rankings issued on Thursday. Saina, who clinched her second Australian Open title earlier this month, exchanged places with Japan's Nozomi Okuhara, who now occupies the sixth spot in the women's singles list headed by Spain's Carolina Marin.
Saina Nehwal faces a tricky draw in the Asian Badminton Championships as most of the shuttlers she is likely to play against have defeated her in the past, feels national coach Pullela Gopichand.
On a day she regained her world number 2 status, India ace Saina Nehwal produced a dominant performance to cruise into the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open Super Series with a straight-game victory over Hong Kong's Pui Yin Yip in Kuala Lumpur.
After winning her first ever Super Series badminton title in Indonesia, Saina Nehwal arrived at Hyderabad on Saturday amidst much fan fare.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal sailed into the second round of Malaysia Open after a straight games victory over Singapore's Gu Juan in the women's singles, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday. However, India's rising star PV Sindhu went down fighting to higher-ranked Tine Baun of Denmark in the first round.
The government rewarded badminton star Saina Nehwal with Rs 25 lakh for reaching the final of the prestigious All England Open Championship in March.
Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal produced a dominating performance to lift her second title of the season, winning the $ 750,000 Star Australian Super Series after beating Spain's Carolina Marin in the summit clash Sydney on Sunday.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina staved off a spirited challenge from World No 44 Mette Poulsen of Denmark 21-19, 23-21 in a 46-minute match.
On a comeback trail, Saina Nehwal made a resounding start to her campaign at the Hong Kong Super Series, advancing to the second round of women's singles with a hard-fought win over Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk.
Sameer Verma stayed on course for his title defence while three-time former champion Saina Nehwal too reached the semifinals with an easy win
Defending champion Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Denmark Super Series Premier after a shock defeat to Korea's Sung Ji Hyun in the quarter-finals of the women's singles in Odense on Friday.
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa suffered a loss in the second round, going down fighting 23-21, 8-21, 17-21 to sixth seeded Indonesian pair of Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award from Sports Minister M S Gill after missing out on the August 29 ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan due to the World Championships in Paris.
Saina Nehwal looks set to cap a remarkable year on a high. The ace Indian shuttler entered the semi-finals of the BWF World Super Series Finals with a fine straight-game win over Juliane Schenk of Germany,in Shenzhen, China, on Friday.
Saina Nehwal remained static at second position while Kidambi Srikanth dropped a place to be at ninth spot in the world badminton rankings released on Thursday.
Ace India shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Chetan Anand notched straight-game victories to reach the pre-quarter-finals in the season-opening Malaysia Open Super Series in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
The 15-year-old from Hyderabad climbed 10 places in the latest International Badminton Federation rankings and maintained her status as India's top women's shuttler.
The teenage badminton star said she is working on her speed and stamina to make an impression at the Doha Asian Games.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal emerged the lone survivor at the US $400,000 All England Championship, thrashing Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour in straight-games to reach the second round even as compatriot PV Sindhu fell by the wayside in Birmingham.
Saina Nehwal outclassed her Korean rival Jang Soo Young 21-9, 21-14 to win the Indian International badminton tournament.
Top seed Saina Nehwal pulled out of the Syed Modi International Grand Prix badminton tournament due to a hamstring injury and fever.
The 16-year-old Indian badminton ace will meet China's Wen Cheng, at the Asian Junior championships.
After notching up an incredible hat-trick of international titles, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Tuesday said she is confident of becoming the world's number one player soon.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal stamped her authority to storm into the final of the French Super Series outclassing German Juliane Schenk in straight sets in the women's badminton singles in Paris.
Saina Nehwal and Chetan Anand won the women's and men's titles respectively at the National Badminton Championship.
A quarterfinal loss at the All England Championship saw Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal slip three places down the rung to the sixth spot in the latest BWF world ranking on Thursday. Saina, who turned 26, went through injuries last year and missed out on a few tournaments this season, including the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold and South Asian Games in January and February respectively. The Olympic bronze medallist, who had finished runners-up at the 2015 All England Championship, lost to Tai Tzu Ying in straight games in the quarterfinals. The Indian now has 73,222 points. Two-time bronze medallist at World Championship, P V Sindhu improved a place to reach the 11th spot.
Indian campaign in the World Super Series Masters Final got off to a disappointing start with ace shuttler Saina Nehwal and the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju biting dust in their first outing in Johor Bahru on Wednesday.
Making a comeback after undergoing a knee surgery, top Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal says that she sometimes feels her badminton career could come to an end due to the injuries she has suffered. Saina, recently made a member of the International Olympic Committee's Athletics Commission, is returning to action at the China Super Series Premier starting November 15. The 26-year-old Saina had developed a knee problem a week before she was to leave for Rio Olympics and she carried the injury through the Games before she made an early exit by losing her second match.
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