From a laidback boy with poor dietary habits, Kidambi Srikanth has become an attacking player who can quickly deploy his considerable skills against tough opponents, writes Anand Datla
India has huge expectations from these champions. Rediff.com's Laxmi Negi and Norma Godinho glance at their chances at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Both lost in the quarter-finals but not before scaring their opponents.
Manika Batra cruised to the semi-finals of the women's singles even as experienced paddler Mouma Das ended her campaign in the Commonwealth Games table tennis event.
H S Prannoy clinched his second Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament title by notching up a straight game victory over Marc Zwiebler of Germany in the summit clash of the Swiss Open.
The Indian badminton ace is working to a schedule in preparation for the international season ahead.
Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu lost in straight games to Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the summit clash of the $ 350,000 Thailand Open World Tour Super 500 badminton tournament, in Bangkok, on Sunday.
Rio Games silver medalist P V Sindhu says her performance at the Olympics has helped her to deal with failures and she realises now that she needs to work harder to win medals at big-ticket events like the World Championship and All England.
Olympic silver medallist shuttler PV Sindhu admitted that there is more responsibility on her shoulders post the Rio Games as everyone now wants her to achieve more laurels for the country. Sindhu, who was here to receive Rs 30 lakhs from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) as prize money for winning silver in Rio Olympics, said she is focused on keeping things simple despite the responsibility. "Definitely there is more responsibility and everybody's eyes are on me to achieve more. That is there but I said to myself I should not take too much pressure. My aim is to keep playing well. After the Olympics, I have won a Superseries and I have done well," the lanky Hyderabadi shuttler said.
Gopichand failed to offer much resistance, losing to seventh seeded Niels Christian Kaldau of Denmark in straight sets, in the second round.
Aparna Popat entered the main draw after beating Commonwealth Games champion Li Li of Singapore.
With a ranking of 129, the Indian ace failed to get a direct entry.
The former All England badminton champion thrashed compatriot J B S Vidyadhar Rao in the men's singles final.
Both romped into the second round in the US $10,000 Asian Satellite badminton championship.
Arvind Bhatt failed to keep the momentum and lost his second round match at the All England Open badminton championships.
Pullela Gopichand only managed to win five points from the two games.
Pullela Gopichand and Aparna Popat booked a place in the main draw.
The badminton ace would be playing in six international tournaments in the next two months.
The Indian ace was beaten by top seed Peter Gade of Denmark in the second round of the tournament.
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.
JBS Vidyadhar Rao defeated top seed Abhinn Shyam Gupta to set up an All-India title clash with former All England Champion Pullela Gopichand in the USD 10,000 Asian Satellite Badminton championship.
Chetan Anand beat Eric Pang 8-15, 15-6, 15-7 to win the Irish Open Badminton Championship.
Commonwealth Games: The event Photographs
Nikhil Kanetkar, Sachin Ratti and Chetan Anand entered the second round in the Asian Satellite Badminton championships.
But former All England champion Pullela Gopichand, Nikhil Kanetkar and Chetan Anand bowed out of the German Open.\n
However, Chetan Anand and Abhinn Shyam Gupta made it to the second round in the Malaysian Open.
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu cleared first round hurdles in the women's singles with contrasting victories at the Denmark Open Super Series Badminton Premier, in Odense, on Wednesday. In the men's singles, Parupalli Kashyap cruised into the second round, beating Rajiv Ouseph of England 21-15, 21-18.
The Indian champions expressed satisfaction with her showing in the World championships, where she reached the last 16.
Jwalla Gutta and Shruti Kurian were the lone Indians to taste success on the opening day of the World badminton championships.
A foot injury early in the year derailed her plans but ace Indian shuttler P V Sindhu is happy to make a successful comeback with a good performance at the Denmark Super Series Premier and a third successive Macau Grand Prix Gold title.
Sports Minister Vijay Goel on Thursday felicitated the Indian women's cricket team for its spectacular performance in the ICC World Cup, saying this will inspire the country's youth to take up sports as a career option.
Chetan Anand, Nikhil Kanetkar, Abhinn Shyam Gupta and Aparna Popat made an exit for the All England Badminton Championships.
India beat England 3-2 to win the Indo-British Charity Cup in the badminton tourney held at the Birmingham Sports Centre.
Hailing Pusarla V Sindhu's excellent show right through 2016 that saw her becoming the first and only Indian shuttler to win a silver medal in the Olympic Games, chief national coach P Gopichand said his lanky ward is capable of scaling greater heights. "I have always maintained that even when she won in 2013 or 2014 (back-to-back world championship singles bronze medals) Sindhu is still some time away from being her best. I maintain that even now that she has the potential to do even better," said the former All-England men's singles champion during an interaction with the media in Mumbai.
Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu continued their winning run at the Malaysia Open notching up contrasting victories to reach the quarter-finals of the women's singles competition at the USD 550,000 Super Series Premier tournament.
Ace shuttler Pulella Gopichand looks forward to a good season after recovering from injury.
Having slumped in the rankings, champion shuttler Parupalli Kashyap tells Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com how he plans to qualify for the Rio Olympics.
Former champions P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the quarter-finals with easy victories, but the highlight of the third day's proceedings in the Yonex-Sunrise India Open badminton tournament was H S Prannoy's thrilling victory over Denmark's Jan Jorgensen.
Recovering from an ankle injury, star India shuttler Saina Nehwal said she will look to get back to her full fitness during the three weeks break after the India Open next month.
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