India's campaign came to a premature halt in the All-England Badminton Championship when ace shuttler Saina Nehwal was thrashed by Chinese Shixian Wang in the quarter-finals of the women's singles in Birmingham on Friday.
The emotional and financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic is weighing on Indian shuttler HS Prannoy's mind and he believes that the already "bleak" scenario would only get worse if things don't take a turn for the better in one and a half month's time. The coronavirus outbreak, which has killed over 40,000 globally, has put countries in lockdown and halted sports, including badminton, across the world. It has also triggered financial and mental woes across the world.
'Well, I think every year, in the last few years, has been better than the previous one'
Double Olympic medallist, Sindhu faces top seed and World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals. Ying beat Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour 21-10, 19-21, 21-11 to advance.
Shuttler N Sikki Reddy and physiotherapist Kiran C have tested positive for COVID-19 at the ongoing national camp, forcing the closure of the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad for sanitisation.
Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat said the game was only about Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan at the moment.
China's two-time Olympic badminton champion Lin Dan, one of the sport's greatest singles players, announced his retirement on Saturday. The 37-year-old, who won the Olympics singles titles in Beijing in 2008 and the 2012 London Games, has won all the sport's major titles, including five world championships' gold medals.
PV Sindhu stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of the Olympic Games' women's singles competition
Treesa committed a few errors but the Indian duo still managed to keep its nose ahead, despite the fighting Taiwanese pair.
It was a mixed day for India in the All England Championship as Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichanda clinched a stunning win, while Lakshya Sen crashed out.
Padukone attributed Sindhu and Saina's success to their physical abilities.
Chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand on Monday singled out world number one doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as favourites for an Olympic medal and said two-time medallist PV Sindhu too is on the right path and can deliver once again at the Paris Games.
India's P V Sindhu came into the semi-final contest with an overwhelming 4-1 head-to-head lead over Thailand's Chochuwong, but wasn't at her best.
Top shuttler B Sai Praneeth and doubles player Dhruv Rawat have already pulled out after testing positive in the pre-departure testing.
Sen became only the third men's singles player after Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand to reach the final
Lakshya had struggled through much of 2023 and early part of 2024. He fell behind in the qualification race but turned things around in time with two semi-final finishes at the All England Championship and the French Open to seal his place in the Olympics.
He also called upon the government and other stakeholders to streamline the processes where an athlete could just concentrate on his training and performance without having to bother about other issues.
Up against Shruti Mundada in the pre-quarters, Saina had a look at the surface and immediately made it clear that she won't risk playing on it given that the All England Championships are around the corner.
For all her achievements, says Bikash Mohapatra, Saina is yet to win either the Worlds, Olympics or All England, badminton's flagship events.
He was clearly disappointed to miss out the Indian Open title, but star Indian shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy on Sunday said "losing is better than winning always" and hoped the defeat in the final will spur him and his doubles partner Chirag Shetty to win a bigger crown in coming days.
Olympic and World Championship silver medallist P V Sindhu feels the experimental service law in badminton could have come at a better time.
Unheralded Indian Subhankar Dey shocked multiple time World and Olympic champion Lin Dan 22-20, 21-19 to enter the quarter-finals of the SaarLorLux Open Badminton Championship.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand continued their impressive run, dishing out another superlative performance to advance to their second successive semi-finals at the All England Championships.
Top badminton stars, including two-time All England champion Tine Baun of Denmark and world No.4 Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro will participate in the inaugural edition of the US$ 1 million Indian Badminton League.
The former All England champion will be in charge of the team till the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
On Saturday, Sen had become only the fifth Indian after Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980, 1981), Pullela Gopichand (2001) and Saina Nehwal (2015) to reach the final of the prestigious tournament after outwitting defending champion Lee Zii Jia in a gruelling semi-final.
India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal accused the sport's administrators of placing money above players' safety by continuing last week's All England Championships despite the coronavirus pandemic. The 30-year-old lost in the opening round of the marquee event, which was among a handful which continued even as the bulk of global sporting calendar was either postponed or cancelled.
The Indian duo needed just 35 minutes to beat Lu Ming-Che and Tang Kai-Wei of Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals of the Super 500 tournament.
The Indian badminton ace tells Bikash Mohapatra how the legendary Rudy Hartono inspired him to greatness.
Former all-England badminton champion Pullela Gopichand has been honoured with all major sports awards - the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna and Dronacharya. His experience taught him a lot and today, he coaches badminton champ Saina Nehwal. Gopichand tells Urmila Rao of Careers 360, how his career took shape.
The Badminton World Federation's proposal to reduce on-court coaching and tweak the scoring system has left international coaches a confused lot with the likes of Pullela Gopichand and Kenneth Jonassen questioning the very logic of such a move.
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy emerged victorious over the England pair of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in their final Group A match but still missed out on qualifying for the quarter-finals in the men's doubles badminton at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday.
Saina Nehwal was made to sweat by American Beiwen Zhang before making it to the women's singles quarter-finals in the All-England Badminton Championships in Birmingham on Thursday night. The seventh seeded Indian ace needed an hour to quell the challenge of the American qualifier 24-22, 18-21, 21-19 in a second round match.
In the absence of top Chinese shuttlers, Indian ace Saina Nehwal has been seeded number one and handed a relatively easy draw in the upcoming Yonex Sunrise Indian Open badminton tournament, scheduled to be held in New Delhi from April 23-28.
2023 was marked by outstanding sporting achievements, shattered records, and the crowning of new champions, all captured by photographers documenting every significant twist and turn.
Saina Nehwal's upset victory over Rebecca Leigh enabled India shock New Zealand in the bronze medal play-off.
Badminton legend Prakash Padukone said the players' overseas performance needs to be monitored to keep them on their toes.
It's going to be a hell of journey, says Sindhu welcoming new coach Hafiz Hashim
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances