Pune Pistons secured a close 3-2 victory after icon player Ashwini Ponnappa and Fischer Nielsen Joachim won the deciding mixed doubles match.
Rio-bound Indian women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will look to boost their confidence ahead of the Olympic Games when they start their title defence at the Canada Open badminton tournament, starting in Calgary on Tuesday. 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallists, Jwala and Ashwini didn't have the best results in the run up to the Rio Olympics and the duo will look to put their best foot forward when they take the court here with just a little more than a month to go for the Games.
The Hong Kong Open finalist, Sameer reached the quarter-finals with a shocking 21-17, 21-15 win in a 40-minute match.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal was the only bright spot in what turned out to be a dismal day for the Indian badminton team as it crashed out of the prestigious Sudirman Cup after a 1-4 loss to three-time champions Korea in a Group 1D tie, in Dongguan China, on Wednesday.
Experienced drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh returned to India's men's hockey team, which also features debutant Jaskaran Singh, for the tour of Australia, starting May 10.
Indian challenge ended at the Japan Open on Friday as Parupalli Kashyap was beaten by sixth seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the men's singles quarter-finals.
PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth notched up contrasting wins to progress to the Round of 16, but World No. 11 H S Prannoy suffered a shock defeat to unheralded Brazilian Ygor Coelho to bow out of the World Championship.
Gopichand, who shaped Sindhu and Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal among others, believes it will take some time for the next big star to emerge.
BAI has confirmed the services of Tan Kim, who will be joining the Indian team by the end of September to work with the top doubles players.
India's shuttlers enjoyed a mixed day at the Australian Open Super Series as Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, P V Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth progressed to the second round but four others were knocked out in the first round itself, in Sydney, on Wednesday.
Indian Olympic Association President Narinder Batra today said that the country should aim to win 'double digit' medals at the Tokyo Olympics
India's hopes of winning a medal in badminton team events at the 18th Asian Games went up in smoke after the men's and women's sides bowed out of the competition following identical 1-3 defeats in the quarter-finals in Jakarta on Monday.
Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy sailed into the pre-quarter-finals, but it was heartbreak for Parupalli Kashyap in the men's singles at the World Badminton Championships in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Top seed Kidambi Srikanth entered the quarter-finals but a heartbreak was in store for P V Sindhu, who suffered a shock defeat to Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand in the second round of the $120,000 Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, in Lucknow, on Thursday.
Expectations will be sky-high when Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu returns to international circuit this week, spearheading the Indian campaign at Denmark Open Superseries Premier badminton tournament starting in Odense from Tuesday. A slew of felicitation programs kept her busy in the last one and a half month after Sindhu returned from Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first Indian badminton player to win a silver and her legions of fans will expect her to replicate the Olympic success when she competes this week. The sixth-seeded Indian will open her campaign against China's He Bingjiao on Wednesday. Sindhu has been clubbed in the second half of the draw where she might face the likes of second seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, Korean fourth seed Sung Ji Hyun and the tricky Chinese Taipei girl Tai Tzu Ying, seeded fifth.
Virat Kohli sent the shutterbugs into a clicking frenzy as he received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
Rio Olympics gold medallist Carolina Marin won her trump game after facing some anxious moments against Ashwini Ponnappa as Hyderabad Hunters defeated Bengaluru Smashers 4-3 in a sea-saw Premier Badminton League contest in Bengaluru on Saturday.
PV Sindhu had to dig deep to down a fighting Vu Thi Trang of Vietnam but Saina Nehwal did not break any sweat as India's top two shuttlers advanced to the women's singles second round at the 18th Asian Games, in Jakarta, on Thursday.
After losing seven successive finals, PV Sindhu finally redeemed herself with the gold medal at the World Tour Finals.
In the women's singles match, Sindhu brought some smiles back in the Indian camp after seeing off Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-15, 19-21, 21-13, setting up a clash with Japan's Aya Ohori on the eve of her 23rd birthday on Thursday.
Top Indian shuttlers, PV Sindhu and Parupalli Kashyap advanced to the women's singles quarter-finals and men's singles pre-quarterfinals, respectively, of the $120,000 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold in Kuching.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
V K Vismaya stunned her fancied opponents, M R Poovamma and Hima Das, to win the gold medal in the women's 400m race at the Indian Grand Prix-3, in Sangrur, on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Newly-crowned Korea Open champion P V Sindhu dished out another splendid performance edging past Japan's Minatsu Mitani for the second time in as many weeks to reach the second round of the women's singles at the Japan Open Super Series, in Tokyo, on Wednesday.
India's schedule for Thursday, the sixth day of competition at the Asian Games, in Incheon.
The Indian women's team qualified for the quarter-finals in the Uber Cup badminton tournament despite a 2-3 defeat to 2014 runners-up Japan in their third and final Group D match, in Kunshan, China, on Wednesday. The men's team, however, continued its dismal run in the Thomas Cup and crashed out after being blanked 0-5 by Indonesia in their third Group B match at the Kunshan Sports Center Stadium.
Saina Nehwal guided the Indian women's team to a dominating 5-0 win over Germany to stay on course for a knockout berth in Uber Cup, but the men's team suffered a narrow 2-3 defeat against Hong Kong, staring at an early exit in Thomas Cup badminton tournament in Kunshan, China.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Top Indian shuttler P V Sindhu started her campaign at the US$ 600,000 Korea Open with a hard-fought win over Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon, but it was curtains for Parupalli Kashyap in men's singles event at the Super Series tournament in Seoul, on Wednesday.
From the boxing ring to the shooting range to the athletics arena, it was India shining on the penultimate day of the 21st Commonwealth Games where the country claimed its biggest single-day haul of the ongoing edition, ensnaring eight gold medals across five disciplines.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
India began their campaign Badminton Asia Team Championships in style with both men's and women's teams posting victories against their Singapore rivals to make it to the quarterfinals. Indian men made a clean sweep of their five-match tie against Singapore, who had lost to China two days ago. India, China and Singapore are part of Group A. Despite the absence of star player Saina Nehwal, the Indian women registered a comprehensive 5-0 win against Singapore and also entered the quarter finals as the Singapore team lost to Japan earlier. Each tie comprises three singles and two doubles matches. India's rising shuttler Srikanth scored a comfortable 21-16, 12-21, 21-13 win over his Singapore rival Zi Liang Derek Wong in the first Singles match. The Singaporean tried to make matters difficult for Srikanth, but the world number nine bounced back to have the last laugh.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday.
PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth advanced into the second round while Saina Nehwal and Sai Praneeth made first-round exits at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham on Wednesday.
Olympic medallists Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu will be the cynosure of all eyes when the seventh India Super Series badminton tournament gets underway with the qualifiers in New Delhi on Tuesday.
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