Star Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth fought their hearts out before suffering close defeats in their respective group 'B' openers at the US$ 1.5 million HSBC BWF World Tour Finals, in Bangkok, on Wednesday.
India's PV Sindhu scripted history by becoming the first Indian shuttler to reach the final at the Olympics when she shocked Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in straight games in the women's singles at the Rio Games on Thursday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday.
World number one Kento Momota was stunned by number 38 South Korea's Heo Kwanghee on Wednesday, going down 15-21, 19-21 and looking visibly despondent at each lost point in his first round match at the Olympics, on Wednesday.
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu are on a collision course at next week's World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, as they have been placed in the same half after the world governing body re-conducted the women's singles draw.
This was Sindhu's second consecutive loss to Tzu Ying. Saina was no match for Carolina Marin, who took exactly half-an-hour to dispose of the Indian's challenge, beating her 8-21, 7-21.
Sindhu, who is currently competing at the French Open in Paris, jumped one rung to stay one spot behind Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying, who continues to dominate the rankings.
Reigning World champion P V Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth were handed easy group stage outings in the badminton draws unveiled on Thursday for the Tokyo Olympics, starting on July 23.
Sindhu and compatriot Saina Nehwal have lost 22 matches between them to Tai.
In sizzling form after clinching the China Open and finishing runners-up at Hong Kong, Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu will look to sign off the year with another crown when she competes in the season-ending World Superseries Finals starting in Dubai from Wednesday. In Rio de Janeiro, Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win an Olympics silver medal in August, but qualifying for the Dubai World Super Series final still was a far cry as she was placed at 16th in the Destination Dubai Rankings with just two events -- China Open and Hong Kong Open -- remaining.
In a nail-biting semi-final, fourth seed Sindhu went down fighting 21-19, 19-21, 18-21 to Yamaguchi after battling for an hour and 19 minutes on Saturday.
P V Sindhu secured her fifth World Championships medal following a stunning comeback while B Sai Praneeth became the first Indian male shuttler in 36 years to grab a podium place in badminton's prestigious event, in Basel, on Friday.
Sindhu seeks improvement on fitness, defence in se
Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal reached the quarter-finals of the Asia Badminton Championship after brushing aside Thailand's Nitchaon Jindapol in straight games, in Wuhan, China, on Thursday.
The 16-year-old from Gujarat was rewarded for last year's stellar run, which saw her win titles in three junior international tournaments. It enabled her rise three places and take the top position in the BWF junior rankings.
Three Indians will feature in the semi-finals of the French Open Super Series badminton tournament after Kidambi Srikanth, H S Prannoy and P V Sindhu won their quarter-final matches in Paris on Friday.
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.
Badminton players P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth carry India's medal hopes on Day 11 of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
'It is the first time that India badminton player has won two Olympic medals in badminton, so it is a great achievement not only for Sindhu but also a big moment for my teaching life.'
Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out in the quarter-finals of the French Open after suffering straight-game defeats in their respective matches as India's campaign ended in the singles events.
India's badminton ace P V Sindhu believes she would be in top form at the BWF's World Tour Final as a recent break gave her the time to be well-prepared for the season-ending tournament, starting on December 12.
Defending champion Kidambi Srikanth beat compatriot Sameer Verma 22-20, 19-21, 23-21 in an absorbing men's singles quarter-final to enter the semi-finals of the Denmark Open, in Odense, on Friday night. The Indian ace will meet second seeded Japanese and world No 1 Kento Momota, who got the better of Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab 21-13, 21-9 in another quarter-final.
India's P V Sindhu secured a straight-game win over Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying to reach the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open in Odense on Friday.
Young Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth continued his rampaging run in Kowloon and set up a semifinal clash with top seed Chinese Chen Long at the Hong Kong Super Series.
Olympics-bound Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu easily won their women's singles first round matches in the Badminton Asia Championships, in Wuhan, China, on Wednesday.
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.
Earlier this month, Sindhu had attained her career-best world number two ranking after clinching her maiden India Open Super Series title.
P V Sindhu's gallant fight ended in agony as she suffered a second successive loss to World no. 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei at the summit clash of the Hong Kong Super Series on Sunday.
India's report card on the tenth day of the 2016 Olympics.
The 25-year-old Indian, who clinched the Indonesia Open and Australian Open this year, besides reaching the final of the Singapore Open, defeated Wong 21-18, 21-17 at the Odense Sports Park.
The prestigious awards recognise the achievements of the elite badminton players
Sindhu has said while there will be a lot of expectations on her going into the Tokyo Olympics
Sindhu lost 7-21, 11-21 to World No. 3 Okuhara in a lop-sided contest.
Kidambi Srikanth continued his good run as he routed Kenta Nishimoto 21-14, 21-13 in the final to clinch the French Open Super Series title on Sunday.
The lack of competitions before the Olympics is a major concern for Indian shuttlers but not so much for PV Sindhu, who trusts her Korean coach Park Tae Sang to create match situations for her in training itself.
Sindhu, Saina advance to 2nd round; Reddy-Ponnappa out
India's campaign in the women's singles of the $350,000 Hong Kong Super Series came to an end after ace shuttler Saina Nehwal was stunned by Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals.
Jwala says Sindhu should scan through all the videos of her past matches and work on her strategy.
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.
Sindhu and Saina will once again be India's best bet as they look to put up a good show this week.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances