Indian mixed doubles pair of Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra clinched their maiden Grand Prix title, bagging the Brazil Open with a straight games victory over Canadian combo of Toby Ng and Rachel Honderich at Foz do Iguacu in Brazil, on Sunday.
The 24-year-old from Hyderabad will begin her campaign against China's Li Xuerui, a former Olympic gold medallist and World No 1.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
While Saina made short work of USA's Beiwan Zhang, second seed Sindhu had to dig deep to get the better of Japanese Sayaka Sato.
'Experience is important. But if you work hard, you can improve faster. There is a three-month gap now and we will look to train harder and improve our fitness for Olympics' 'I think we need to cut down simple errors on court and not give away easy points. We have got to work hard each day without thinking about the results, as giving our best is in our hands'
Former champions P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the second round in the Yonex-Sunrise India Open badminton scoring contrasting victories, in Delhi, on Wednesday. Si
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
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.
Seasoned shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa is impressed with the progress made by India's doubles players on the Pro circuit but says they will take some time to develop into world beaters.
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.
India's schedule for Thursday, the sixth day of competition at the Asian Games, in Incheon.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal and two-time World Championships bronze medallist P V Sindhu advanced to the quarter-finals, but it turned out to be a dismal day for star shuttlers Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei at the India Open Super Series in Delhi on Thursday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
In other matches, former Singapore Open champion B Sai Praneeth's fight lasted just 35 minutes as he went down 12-21, 17-21 to 24-year-old Ng Ka Long Angus in the second round. It was his third loss to the World No 15 from Hong Kong.
On an extremely bad for India at the Denmark Open, top seed Saina Nehwal suffered a shock second round defeat while Kidambi Srikanth also failed to clear the second round in men's singles of the $650,000 Super Series Premier event, in Odense on Thursday.
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.
P V Sindhu stormed into the third round of the World Badminton Championships with a straight-games victory over Olga Golovanova of Russia, in Copenhagen, on Wednesday.
Defending men's champion Kidambi Srikanth suffered a shock defeat but Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu did not face any trouble as she sailed into the women's singles final with a straight-game victory on an exciting day in Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Lucknow on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Saina Nehwal will lead India's charge in the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament which begins in Macau on Tuesday after three-time champion P V Sindhu pulled out of the event to prepare herself for the Dubai Super Series Finals.
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.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the women's singles competition after defeating Korea's Kim Hyo Min in the second round of the World Championship in Glasgow on Tuesday.
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.
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.
Star shuttler and Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal of India will begin the hunt for her first title of the season and also eye a return to the top-5 when the China Open Super Series Premier starts with the qualifiers in Shanghai from Tuesday.
In a shock for Indian fans, star shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap fell by the wayside after losing their respective singles matches at the 17th Asian Games on Friday.
India's ace shuttler P V Sindhu did the star turn, winning two matches as Chennai Smashers outclassed Ahmedabad Smash Masters 2-1 in the Premier Badminton League in Chennai, on Saturday.
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 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.
Kidambi Srikanth and two-time bronze medallist P V Sindhu will headline a 21-member Indian contingent as they gun for the elusive gold medal at the World Badminton Championships starting in Glasgow on Monday.
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.
World No. 1 Saina Nehwal started her campaign with a hard-fought win, while P V Sindhu eased past her opponent at the $200,000 Badminton Asia Championship.
Young Indian shuttlers K Srikanth and H S Prannoy advanced to the quarter-finals of men's singles at the Japan Open, but it was curtains for teen sensation P V Sindhu in the US $200,000 Super Series event, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, on Thursday.
A rematch of the All England final between India's Saina Nehwal and world champion Carolina Marin is on the cards with the two stars given first and second seeding in the Yonex Sunrise India Open Superseries to be played from March 24.
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The Indian men's team salvaged some pride with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Germany in their inconsequential Group C tie to end its campaign at the Thomas Cup badminton tournament on a positive note at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.
World No. 11 Kidambi Srikanth overcame some stiff resistance in the second game from lower ranked Mexican rival Lino Munoz before winning his Group H clash in straight games in the badminton singles event at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, on Thursday night.
Newly-crowned India Open champions Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth continued their rampaging international run, notching contrasting victories to enter the second round of the US $500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday.
H S Prannoy lost in the opening round even as compatriots Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu entered the second round of the $ 350,000 India Open Super 500 tournament, in New Delhi on Wednesday.
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