P V Sindhu stormed into the quarter-finals of the women's singles badminton at the Olympics with an easy 21-15, 21-13 victory over Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt in Tokyo on Thursday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
'Her defence was the one only problem. (Carolina) Marin and Pornpawee (Chochuwong) are good attacking players, they were using a lot of half smash and straight smash, and when Sindhu's defence goes down on a day, it affects her other skills as well, she gets nervous. But now she has improved a lot in her defence as well. Her endurance on the court is also good.'
Having slumped in the rankings, champion shuttler Parupalli Kashyap tells Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com how he plans to qualify for the Rio Olympics.
Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone has joined in the Bharat Ratna debate saying her father and former India badminton star Prakash Padukone deserves the highest civilian award.
After a highly successful 2012, Saina Nehwal will look to start the new year on a winning note when she takes the court at the season-opening Korea Super Series Premier badminton tournament at Seoul on Wednesday.
Carolina Marin broke Indian hearts as the World No.1 beat second seed Saina Nehwal in straight game to lift the World Championships title in Jakarta.
Now all eyes are on the two Super 1000 events -- Yonex Thailand Open (January 12-17) and Toyota Thailand Open (January 19-24) as the world's best return to action following a prolonged break.
Awadhe Warriors brother-sister pair of Markis Kido and Pia Bernadeth held their nerves in a close encounter to win the crucial fifth match and the tie 3-2 against Mumbai Masters in the second semi-final to set up the summit clash with Hyderabad Hotshots in the Indian Badminton League on Thursday.
World no 10 men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, however, are expected to face a stiff challenge in the league stage.
Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu will learn from her mistakes and perform better in future, her father P V Ramana said on Saturday. "(Sindhu's opponent) Carolina Marin has played an excellent game and she truly deserves the championship. "However we assure you under the guidance of her coach (P Gopichand) in the coming years, Sindhu will definitely perform well and keep the hopes of the all the Indians high," Ramana told reporters with a hint of disappointment after the watching the match at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad.
The Indian team, comprising Olympic hopefuls PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and B Sai Praneeth, have been allotted training timings. The players also had their first gym session in the afternoon.
'Head out!' 'It has been a long time that we have not met family and friends.'
And, run to the court.'
Sindhu, a 2019 World Champion, lost 14-21, 21-15, 14-21 to Zhang in a match that lasted 55 minutes.
In other India-related news, Manish Kaurav (KL3 men 200m) and Manjeet Singh (VL2 men 200m) made it to the finals of their respective events for the first time in the history of the tournament.
The World No 11 Srikanth will take on China's Lu Guang Zu in the next round.
The world body has so far maintained that it has no plans to make any adjustments to the regulations related to the Tokyo Games qualification period and that other events will go as per schedule.
Rediff.com introduces you to the athletes who have brought India glory in Birmingham.
Slipping out of the usual top-five was seen as a real possibility in absence of shooting but phenomenal success in athletics and lawn bowls propelled India to a commendable fourth place finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
Sindhu has fallen in the early stages at all tournaments except the French Open since winning her maiden World Championship title in August.
Lakshya Sen recorded another comfortable win but double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth had to work hard to enter the semi-finals
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.
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.
'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'
Kidambi Srikanth is against any drastic changes in the scoring system being contemplated by the world body.
An important factor in India's stupendous success in 2021 was the way the government opened its coffers to support athletes.
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'.
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.
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.
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.
At 20, Saina Nehwal's shoulders bear the expectations and hopes of millions of sports fans among India's massive population.
'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.'
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.
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.
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.
