Set to become the first Indian to win all the national sports awards, former All-England badminton champion Pullela Gopichand on Tuesday said being honoured as both player and coach has put a responsibility on him to take the game forward in the country.
Indian contingent has an opportunity to go deep in the draw and recapture the trophy which has been won by just two Indians so far -- the legendary Prakash Padukone (1980) and P Gopichand (2001).
India needs people like Rahul Dravid and Pullela Gopichand, who have done an excellent job in producing young talent in their respective disciplines, for tennis to develop in the country, says eight-time Grand Slam doubles champion Leander Paes.
The former All-England badminton champion says he was in the dark about the formation of new Arjuna Awards panel.
Lakshya Sen is aware that his Olympic qualification is still in choppy waters but said he has been working on his "variations" and "deceptions" during the off-season to regain his world's top-10 position and seal his Paris Games berth.
HS Prannoy and PV Sindhu marched into the pre-quarterfinals of the Swiss Open Super 300 badminton tournament in Basel.
Three Indian shuttlers tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the All England Championship while a few are awaiting confirmation on their inconclusive samples as India's campaign has been thrown into chaos before the start of the tournament, starting in Birmingham on Wednesday.
Reader Saurabh Tandon spotted Prakash Padukone in Bangalore.
The Chinese was given a tough time by unseeded Malaysian Lee Tsuen Seng before making the semi-final in the All-England badminton.
With a hat-trick of international titles and a career-best world ranking of number three, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has already achieved the targets that she had set for 2010, a jubilant national coach Pullela Gopichand said on Sunday.
Many believe the Thomas Cup victory can do for badminton what the 1983 World Cup triumph did for cricket in India.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Badminton chiefs will consider a new format for the Thomas and Uber Cups after South Korea shamelessly threw two group matches.
The 23-year-old remains India's 'silver girl', having lost finals at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and two world championships before Tuesday's Asian Games title showdown defeat to world number one Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan.
Denmark's Tine Rasmussen reached the final of the women's singles at the All England Badminton Championships for the third year in succession after edging past gallant Indian seventh seed Saina Nehwal 21-19, 21-17.
Prakash Padukone and Geet Sethi have joined hands to launch the Olympic Gold Quest Sports Foundation.
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy capped off their impressive campaign with a historic title at the Swiss Open.
For India to send two shuttlers in Tokyo Olympics women's singles, both of them will have to be inside top 16 in the world rankings which will be released after the end of qualification period, on April 30, 2020.
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.
Saina Nehwal and Sikki Reddy will clash in the girls' final of the Commonwealth Youth Games badminton tournament. In Thursday's semi-finals, Saina beat England's Panuga Riou 21-12, 21 10, while Sikki Reddy accounted for Malaysia's Tiffany Chase Currier, winning 21-16, 21-9.
World champion P V Sindhu remains India's best Olympic medal prospect but she has to give more attention to her recovery process between matches to achieve the feat at the Tokyo Olympic Games, said former India badminton coach Vimal Kumar.
The government rewarded badminton star Saina Nehwal with Rs 25 lakh for reaching the final of the prestigious All England Open Championship in March.
The FIR, filed on Thursday by M Goviappa Nagaraja, alleged that the 21-year-old reigning Commonwealth Games champion, along with his brother Chirag Sen, had fudged their age to get into playing age-group tournaments since 2010.
The 28-year-old from Hyderabad, a winner of the Indonesia Masters, semi-finalist at Malaysia Masters and quarter-finalist at the All England Championship, saw US$36,825 added to her career earnings.
Ten years ago, Prakash Padukone had predicted the rise of Lakshya Sen.
By securing a place in the semfinals, Haseena Sunil Kumar Prannoy became the first Indian in 41 years to book a badminton medal in the men's singles at the Asian Games.
Apparently, Deepika will now produce a bio-pic on the life of her father, the badminton champion, Prakash Padukone.
Lakshya Sen went down fighting against reigning All England champion Li Shi Feng of China in the men's singles semi-finals.
Sindhu, Lakshya win openers; Sai Praneeth loses in US Open
The Malalsian's All-England success earmarks him as a genuine contender for the world championships.
Newly-crowned Canada Open champion Lakshya Sen will hope to continue his winning momentum while beginning his campaign at the US Open Super 300 badminton tournament.
London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal scripted history by reaching the finals of the prestigious All England Badminton Championship with a straight-game victory over Sun Yu of China in the women's singles competition in Birmingham.
The top Indian players, including Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Srikanth have failed to lift the prestigious trophy
As Kidambi Srikanth lost his second round match, India's campaign ended at the Singapore Open.
H S Prannoy signed off with a bronze -- India's first medal in men's singles at the Asian Games in 41 years,.
All eyes will be on Indian ace Saina Nehwal when she returns to the court after an injury lay-off at the All England Championship, hoping to better last year's runner-up finish at the prestigious event which begins with the qualifiers in Birmingham.
India badminton team have been accorded the top seed this time and are clubbed with Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Scotland in Group A.
World champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn crashed out of the India Open Super 750 badminton tournament
Bollywood's obsession with biopics is getting stronger with each year. The focus seems to be on Indian sportswomen.
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