Title-contenders Saina Nehwal and B Sai Praneeth advanced to prequarter-finals of the Thailand Open after notching up straight-game wins in the women's and men's singles competition respectively.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal booked her place in the finals of the Denmark Super Series Premier tournament after world number one opponent Yihan Wang of China retired midway through the semi-final clash because of a knee injury.
The third-seeded Indian defeated World No. 39 Saena Kawakami of Japan 21-15, 21-13 in the opening round at the Olympic Sports Center Xincheng Gymnasium.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Hong Kong Super Series badminton tournament after a straight-game quarter-final defeat to lower-ranked Tine Baun of Denmark, while giant-killer RMV Gurusaidutt also made an exit, on Friday.
Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal stunned fourth seed Chen Wang of Hong Kong 21-19, 11-21, 21-11 to enter the quarter-finals at the Beijing Games.
'No country can take India and its badminton players lightly,' says London Olympics medalist Saina Nehwal.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal faces the prospect of an early exit from the BWF World Superseries Finals after going down to Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China in a Group B match in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal hardly broke sweat in a straight games victory over Chinese Taipei's Shao Chieh Cheng, which gave her a berth in the women's singles quarter-finals of the Malaysian Super Series badminton, in Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday. The fourth seed rode on her smashes and better net play to outwit Cheng 21-19, 21-8 in 31 minutes.
The Indian ace frittered away a 10-1 lead in the second game before going down 21-16, 21-19 to second seed Lin Wang in the quarter-finals.
15-year-old Saina Nehwal created a sensation when she upset eight-time national champion Aparna Popat in the final of the Asian Satellite Championship.
Adapting quickly to playing conditions at the Rio Olympics will pose the biggest challenge for players, says Saina Nehwal, who is aiming to better the badminton bronze she won in London four years ago.
Just days before embarking on their Olympic sojourn, Beijing-bound shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Anup Sridhar got a fillip when they were handed a favourable draw in the women's and men's singles badminton competition of the quadrennial event starting August 8. Although Saina's path to the pre-quarterfinals is relatively smooth, the same is not in the case of her male counterpart Sridhar.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal's confidence is back after winning the India Grand Prix Gold.
National champion Saina Nehwal tried every trick in her book but failed to get the better of top seeded Chinese Xie Xingfang in the quarter-finals of the Thailand Open in Bangkok on Friday. The Indian ace lost 16-21, 17-21.
Media hype after winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal might have affected the Saina Nehwal's performance in last month's Asian Games in Guangzhou and led to her early exit, according to badminton legend Prakash Padukone.
Saina Nehwal's dream of pocketing back-to-back titles were dashed by Chinese qualifier Xin Wang, who beat her in the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Johor Bahru on Friday. The Indian second seed cut a sorry figure as Wang took just 26 minutes to score a 21-14, 21-10 victory.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal staved off a scare from Indonesia's Adrianti Firdasari to reach the women's singles quarter-finals in the Singapore Open Badminton Super Series in Singapore City on Thursday. The sixth seeded Indian ace beat 19th-ranked Firdasari 21-18, 17-21, 21-17 in a 50-minute battle to set up a clash with third seed Chinese Lin Wang on Friday.
Fourth seed Saina Nehwal made a shock first round exit from the China Open as Indian challenge ended in the singles events of the prestigious badminton tournament, in Shanghai, on Wednesday.
India's challenge in the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Super Series came to an end on Friday after both Arvind Bhat and Saina Nehwal bowed out in the quarter-finals.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal started her campaign at the French Open Super Series on a positive note, thrashing Jie Yao of Holland in straight-games to reach the second round of the women's singles event at Paris on Wednesday.
Still smarting from her second-round exit in Denmark last week, Saina Nehwal will seek redemption when she starts her campaign at the French Open Super series, which begins with the qualifiers at Paris on Tuesday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal suffered a straight-game 19-21, 13-21 defeat to Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei in the second round and crashed out of the Denmark Open Super Series, at Odense, on Thursday. However, Jwala Gutta and V Diju kept the tri-colour fluttering after a 21-16, 21-19 victory over Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier of England in the second round of the mixed doubles.
Saina Nehwal failed to produce her vintage form of recent years as the Indian ace suffered a shock defeat to lower-ranked Malaysian Julia Pei Xian Wong in the quarter-finals to crash out of the Yonex Sunrise Indian Open in Hyderabad on Friday.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal thumped Hung Yung Chan of Hong Kong in straight games to sail into the quarter-finals of the Yonex Sunrise Indian Open in Hyderabad on Thursday. Women's second-seed Saina rode on the unforced errors of her opponent and thrashed her 21-8, 21-8 to set up a quarter-final clash with fifth-seed Xian Wong of Malaysia.
Describing Saina Nehwal as a 'phenomenal', her coach Pullela Gopichand today said if Saina had not won the Olympic medal, his life would have been incomplete.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal failed to sustain her impressive touch as she suffered a straight-game defeat at the hands of world No 1 Yihan Wang of China in the semi-final of the Malaysian Open Super Series, in Kuala Lumpur.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal's hopes of retaining her Thailand Grand Prix Gold title went up in smoke as she suffered a stunning three-game defeat to Singapore's Juan Gu in the quarter-finals of the women's singles competition in Bangkok on Friday. However, promising youngster K Srikanth kept the Indian flag flying in the tournament, entering the semi-finals in the men's singles.
While about 8,000 people are in the long list of invitees, the select list features 506 A-listers, including prominent politicians, leading industrialists, top film stars, sportspersons, diplomats, judges and high priests.
Olympic bronze medal winning shuttler Saina Nehwal has been handed a relatively easy draw in the women's singles section at the upcoming World Badminton Championships, scheduled to be held in Guangzhou from August 5 to 11.
The fourth seed Indian lost 17-21, 10-21 to the world number six Jiang in a 36-minute battle in the women's singles competition.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal entered the pre-quarterfinals but it turned out to be a disastrous day for the men with all of them, including reigning champion K Srikanth, failing to cross the opening hurdle at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super Series badminton.
India's top shuttlers have missed his court-side presence this year but national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand says he can't really help cutting down on travelling as that would come in the way of finding the next crop of world-beaters.
Saina Nehwal beat third seed Shixian Wang of China 22-20, 21-12 in the semi-finals of the girls' singles. However, another Indian, fifth seed Gurusaidutt's lost to third seed Zhengming Wang of China 16-21, 21-17, 17-21 in the semi-finals of the boys' singles.
2023 was marked by outstanding sporting achievements, shattered records, and the crowning of new champions, all captured by photographers documenting every significant twist and turn.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Thursday took a giant stride towards realising her goal of becoming the world's numero uno player as she jumped three places to a career-best third in the latest international rankings.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Saina Nehwal advanced to the second round with an easy victory, but it was a disappointing day for Indians overall, as Parupalli Kashyap and P V Sindhu failed to cross the opening round in the Hong Kong Super Series on Wednesday. Looking for her first title this season, world No 7 Saina hardly broke a sweat as she outplayed Indonesia's Bellaetrix Manuputty 21-14, 21-16 in 34 minutes.
The Indian ace will be looking to get the better off the Spaniard in Japan Super Series, starting next week, and avenge her recent defeat at the World Championships.
Saina Nehwal and Arvind Bhatt continued their fine form to storm into the quaterfinals even as compatriot Chetan Anand fell by the wayside in the Hong Kong Super Series badminton tournament on Thursday.
Saina Nehwal fought her way back from a game down to win her opening round match while compatriot P V Sindhu crushed her opponent to storm into the second round of the French Super Series in Paris, on Wednesday.
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