Fresh from her triumphant exploits with senior partner Jwala Gutta in the Canadian Open, shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa said the ace Indian doubles pair was now aiming to break into the top ten while qualifying for next year's Rio Olympic Games.
Indian mixed doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa shocked Commonwealth Games silver medallists England's Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the $ 1 million China Open
Pune Pistons clinched a thrilling 3-2 victory on day one of the inaugural Indian Badminton League in New Delhi, on Wednesday after the mixed doubles combination of Ashwini Ponnappa and Joachim Fischer Nielsen got the better of Jwala Gutta and Kien Keat Koo of Krissh Delhi Smashers.
Already out of medal contention, India's women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa suffered their third successive loss in their final Group A match against Thailand's Supajirakul Puttita and Taerattanachai Sapsiree in the badminton event.
Priyanshu toiled hard for one hour 14 minutes before losing 21-18, 14-21, 17-21.
After much dilly-dallying, the Sports Ministry has included Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa in the 'Target Olympic Podium Scheme' (TOP) scheme, putting an end to the controversy surrounding the doubles duo's complaint of bias against the Ministry and chief national coach Pullela Gopichand.
The Commonwealth Games' gold medal-winning pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa went down fighting in the Indian Open Super Series badminton at the Siri Fort Complex, in New Delhi, on Thursday. The eighth seeded Indian duo lost 20-22, 18-21 to Eei Hui Chin and Pei Tty Wong of Malaysia.
The Indian men's and women's doubles teams crashed out of the World Badminton Championships after losing their respective third-round matches in Paris. After making it to the quarter-finals in the mixed doubles, Jwala Gutta failed to repeat the performance with Ashwini Ponnappa in the women's doubles, going down to sixth seeds Jung Eun Ha and Ming Jung Kim 21-14, 21-15.
India's challenge at the Korean Open ended after the women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa lost their quarter-final match in the Super Series tournament in Seoul on Friday.
While India have never won the gold at the Asia Mixed Team Championships, they did secure mixed team gold and silver at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022.
Top shuttlers Ashwini Ponnappa and Lakshya Sen are among 20-odd Indian players who have started training at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) in Bengaluru as the sport took its first step towards resumption after the COVID-19 hiatus. Confined to their homes for more than two months due to the nationwide lockdown to contain the health crisis, the shuttlers started training at PPBA after the Sports Authority of India (SAI) laid down rules for resumption of training late last month.
Earlier in the day, the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanshia Crasto squandered an early lead to go down 21-18, 15-21, 19-21 against Malaysia's Pang Ron Hoo and Su Yin Cheng in the second round.
Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila outclassed Adnan Maulana and Indah Cahya Sari Jamil in straight games in the first round match.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal survived a scare from lower-ranked Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand before reaching the second round of the All England Championship in Birmingham.
Satwik-Chirag had lost each of the two semifinals in straight sets and their aim would be to go the distance in the upcoming tournament.
PV Sindhu is set to make a much-anticipated return to competitive badminton at the India Open Super 750 tournament after missing the season opener in Kuala Lumpur due to her wedding.
Indian women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa notched up a comfortable straight-game victory over Lei Yao and Shinta Mulia Sari of Singapore in their last group B match but still failed to enter the quarter-finals of the London Olympics.
Rio-bound Indian women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will look to boost their confidence ahead of the Olympic Games when they start their title defence at the Canada Open badminton tournament, starting in Calgary on Tuesday. 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallists, Jwala and Ashwini didn't have the best results in the run up to the Rio Olympics and the duo will look to put their best foot forward when they take the court here with just a little more than a month to go for the Games.
Lakshya Sen registered an easy 21-9, 21-15 win over Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in his pre-quarterfinal match.
India's women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa crashed out of the Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold on Thursday after suffering a straight-game defeat against the Malaysian pair of Hui Ern Ng and Hui Lin Ng in the second round in Saarbrucken, Germany.
B Sumeeth Reddy, a member of the 2022 Commonwealth Games mixed team silver medal-winning squad, has announced his retirement as an active badminton player to focus entirely on coaching.
HS Prannoy and PV Sindhu is set to lead India's charge at the upcoming Sudirman Cup.
The Chirag-Satwik pair won the Thailand Open in May to reclaim the No.1 ranking but suffered loss of form and made a first-round exit from the Singapore Open last month.
P V Sindhu stormed into the third round of the World Badminton Championships with a straight-games victory over Olga Golovanova of Russia, in Copenhagen, on Wednesday.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have regained their top spot following their Thailand Open title triumph on Sunday.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty notched up a dominating straight-game win against Indonesian duo of Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Fajar Alfian to top Group C.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the second round of French Open Super 750 badminton tournament.
Later in the day, the new women's doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa lost 13-21, 18-21 to Japan's Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota in the quarter-finals, bringing down the curtain on India's campaign.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy scored a stunning straight games victory over world No. 18 Li Wenmei and Zheng Yu to make it to the second round in the women's doubles at the US $350,000 India Open, in Delhi, on Tuesday.
On Friday, Supanida Katethong came out on top against Indian star PV Sindhu in an intense quarter-final battle in which the Thai shuttler emerged 24-26, 21-17, 22-20 winner in one hour and 17 minutes.
The Indian badminton team returned empty-handed from the Olympics for the first time in over a decade.
- 'We need the government to support us with funds' - 'If government does not fund, lot of players will be lost. We are really depending on the government' - 'Before Olympics, any tournament we play and win is great. But, the ultimate goal is Olympics'
Manu Bhaker and partner Sarabjot Singh will compete in the 10m air pistol mixed team bronze medal play-off match on Tuesday.
A look at India's schedule at the Paris Olympics on Monday, July 29, 2024:
The experienced Indian pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa were eliminated from the women's doubles at the Rio Olympics after losing their second successive Group A match on Friday. In a rollercoaster game against the Dutch pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek, Jwala and Ashwini went down 16-21, 21-16, 17-21 in 48 minutes.
A look at India's schedule at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, July 27, 2024:
Padukone said it's high time that players learn to withstand pressure, take responsibility, and deliver results after receiving significant support from the government.
India's women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa started their campaign with a dominating straight-game win in the opening round of the Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold in Saarbrucken, Germany.
Double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra is among only three track and field athletes retained in the sports ministry's revamped TOPS core group.
The top-16 in the world by April-end will make the cut for the Olympics.
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