The London Olympic bronze medallist will face either Denmark's Line Christophersen or compatriot Ira Sharma for a place in the finals at the Super 100 event, which is a part of BWF's revised Olympic qualification events.
An important factor in India's stupendous success in 2021 was the way the government opened its coffers to support athletes.
'In this year, we had the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Championships and we have been successful (in those) and that was our target for this year. And I'm happy that at the end of the year they (players) are able to maintain their rankings'
London Olympics bronze medalist Saina Nehwal regained second place while Parupalli Kashyap continued his upward progress, earning two places to reach seventh in the latest world badminton rankings, on Thursday.
Kidambi Srikanth is against any drastic changes in the scoring system being contemplated by the world body.
On Wednesday, Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, seeded eighth, scraped past the Denmark duo of Amalie Magelund and Freja Ravn 21-9, 17-21, 21-19 in the women's doubles.
Her frequent losses in the finals and the accompanying criticism does not affect ace shuttler PV Sindhu, who, on Saturday, said playing in the summit showdown of a tournament itself is 'a big achievement'.
'Coaches have been trying to create match situations like when it is 18-all or 19-all. I am focusing on how I have to play and win those moments, so I hope it will help.'
Two-time defending champion Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament on Sunday. She was shocked by a lower-ranked Shixian Wang of China in the women's singles semi-final. The top seeded Indian ace fought hard before losing 11-21, 21-10, 9-21 to the fourth-seeded Chinese in a battle that lasted 50 minutes.
Rising Indian shuttler Sourabh Varma stunned world number eight and home favourite Peter Gade in straight games to enter the second round of the Denmark Open badminton tournament in Odense, Denmark.
These athletes made India proud four years ago.
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.
Malaysia's top badminton player Lee Chong Wei wrested the Malaysian Open title when he defeated world number one Chen Long at Shah Alam on Sunday. The world No. 4 won 21-13, 21-8 to clinch his record 11th title in Malaysia, which also comes as a much-needed boost in his pursuit of a still-elusive Olympic gold medal. The world number four shuttler was in fine form for the Malaysian competition after suffering early exits in the All England Championships and India Open in March. "Many critics have said that I should retire after some poor performances. But I know within myself that I am capable of still producing the goods at the highest level and this win was the proof of that," said the 33-year old Lee.
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.
Taking the Indian challenge forward, P V Sindhu progressed to the women's singles quarter-finals after a tough win over Yu Po Pai in the USD 120,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, in Basel on Thursday. Sindhu overcame the challenge of the Taipei shuttler 21- 16 21-16 in the second round. However, B Sai Parineeth, who had eked out a memorable win over legendary Lee Chong Wei at the All England championship, made an exit from the event after losing 19-21 6-21 to second seed Tien Chen Chou from Taipei in the men's singles pre-quarterfinals.
Memories of a path-breaking gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games are still fresh in her mind as Saina Nehwal embarks on a quest to regain the title at the Gold Coast Games starting next week.
At 20, Saina Nehwal's shoulders bear the expectations and hopes of millions of sports fans among India's massive population.
The Olympics in London next year is Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal's best chance for Olympic glory. But, for that to happen, Indonesian badminton legend Rudy Hartono says, she needs to improve her physical fitness considerably.
Indian shuttlers Ruthvika Shivani Gadde and Siril Verma notched up contrasting victories to reach the semifinals of the women's and men's singles events at the Russian Open Grand Prix, in Vladivostok, on Friday.
Legendary Prakash Padukone was revered as the world number one player during his hey days before the modern day computerised ranking system was introduced.
The 24-year-old from Hyderabad will begin her campaign against China's Li Xuerui, a former Olympic gold medallist and World No 1.
One of the strong medal hopefuls from badminton at the upcoming Olympics, PV Sindhu said she wants to break into the top 7 in world ranking before the Rio Games in August.
World champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and Chinese Taipei's No 1 shuttler Tai Tzu Ying will be up for grabs when the high-profile Players' Auction for the lucrative Premier Badminton League gets underway in Hyderabad on Monday.
Back in action after recovering from a knee injury, star shuttler Saina Nehwal says she needs good match practice to be at her best in the prestigious All England Championship in March. "I am happy with my improvement. My movements are still sluggish. I still need good match practice," she told reporters here late last night after losing to top-ranked shuttler Carolina Marin in a Premier Badminton League (PBL) match. Saina had sustained an intra-articular injury (inside the joint) in her right knee and had lost in the group stage in the Rio Olympics. She later underwent a surgery and was on rehab.
After losing seven successive finals, PV Sindhu finally redeemed herself with the gold medal at the World Tour Finals.
The Indian badminton ace says there should be some stabilization to help players making a comeback from injury.
Badminton teen sensation P V Sindhu improved one more place to close the gap with ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal in the latest world ranking released in Kuala Lumpur.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
World champion Zhu Lin will not be able to defend her title in India this August after being left out of the China squad for the badminton World Championships, local media reported on Tuesday. Olympic silver medallist and former world champion Xie Xingfang will lead China's team for the women's singles, which also includes All England champion Wang Yihan, China's highest ranked player Wang Lin and Lu Lan.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and newly-crowned world No 1 Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the final in women's and men's singles badminton respectively at the 21st Commonwealth Games on Saturday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
P V Sindhu hoped to regain peak fitness before the start of individual events and assured India will return with multiple medals.
He is known to be a demanding coach but Pullela Gopichand is of the opinion that Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu's odd defeats can't be termed as her failure, not even by a single per cent.
Early exits at Japan Open and Denmark Open proved costly for ace India shuttler Saina Nehwal as she lost her World No.1 crown to All England and World champion Carolina Marin of Spain.
At 17 and 20 respectively, Satwik and Chirag form a formidable pair that has proved its mettle in international badminton, often punching above their weight, only to fall short of podium finishes.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal feels that year 2015 is one of the best of her career but rued that a series of injuries affected her chances of winning more titles.
P V Sindhu and K Srikanth have been given the top billing in the respective women's and men's singles badminton competitions of the Commonwealth Games
'I'm least bothered about the rankings of Kashyap or Srikanth. I want to make it on my own by winning titles.'
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
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