The much-anticipated face off between Mohammad Azharuddin and V K Verma ended in a damp squib on Sunday after the former cricketer backed out of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) elections, clearing the decks for a fourth term for the incumbent president.
Mohammed Azharuddin's last-minute backing out rendered Sunday's Badminton Association of India (BAI) elections in Chennai a one-horse race and the former cricket captain said he decided to skip it after failing to get a stay order on the contest.
To keep their MLAs together, political parties are organising dinner meetings and arranging hotel stays for them ahead of the council elections, which are taking place just three months ahead of the assembly polls in the state.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty hardly broke a sweat while defeating the Chinese pair of Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi to win the Thailand Open men's doubles crown in Bangkok on Sunday.
Badminton Association of India (BAI) President Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta announced a reward of Rs. 50 lakhs for P V Sindhu after she settled for a historic silver medal at the Rio Olympics. BAI also announced a reward of Rs. 10 lakhs for Dronacharya awardee coach Pullella Gopichand who trained Sindhu to achieve this feat. The World No. 10 lost to Spain's Carolina Marin by 21-19, 12-21, 15-21 in the thrilling final match held at Riocentro. This is India's first silver Medal in Badminton.
Projected as an outsider by the ruling camp, cricketer-turned-politician Mohammad Azharuddin on Thursday fired a salvo at Badminton Association of India president VK Verma, saying the BAI chief is not eligible for re-election and should gracefully walk after having played a "long innings".
Isharani Baruah and Anmol Kharb shone bright as India all but assured its place in the quarter-finals of Uber Cup after beating Singapore 4-1 in the second tie of Group A, in Chengdu, China, on Sunday.
A film with a one-line plot, needed a lot more pizzazz, whistle-worthy dialogue, and a large-than-life, invincible protagonist. Karki makes a Rajinikanth kind of actioner (Bhaiyya Ji fights with a bidi in his mouth) but with a realistic soul, and falls between two boats.
There's a new actor in town, and Shraddha Kapoor is particularly excited about it!
Ashmita Chaliha produced a gallant fight before the young and inexperienced Indian women's team suffered a 0-3 loss to formidable Japan in the quarterfinals of the Uber Cup badminton tournament in Chengdu on Thursday.
Sindhu saw off Sim 21-13, 12-21, 21-14 in a 59-minute women's singles second-round match to register her third win over the Korean world number 34.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the tributes that poured in for Badminton Association of India president Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta, who passed away in Lucknow after suffering a heart attack on Wednesday.
While Sindhu struggled to get winners, Young kept varying the pace and sending everything back.
P V Sindhu advanced to the second round after her opponent Li Yvonne Li of Germany retired after the first game.
Kiran George lost to World champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters.
Lakshya Sen moved a place to world number 17, despite not competing in the last two weeks.
Ons Jabeur was full of praise for former England midfielder David Beckham after their meeting this week.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Wednesday announced five guarantees for women, including annual direct cash transfers of Rs 1 lakh to one woman from each of the country's poorest families and 50 per cent quota in all new recruitments in central government jobs.
It was a smooth performance from Sindhu as she was hardly tested by the Taiwanese qualifier
Jwala Gutta launched a verbal tirade against the Badminton Association of India on Friday, saying the decision to recommend a life ban on her has only made it a laughing stock.
Defending champions India's hopes of entering the Thomas Cup knockout stage as group topper were dashed by a clinical Indonesia who emerged 4-1 winners in their final pool match in Chengdu on Wednesday.
Outgoing coach Vimal Kumar criticized the BAI for giving preference to youngsters at the expense of experience.
World No. 15 Sindhu, who will be eyeing her third Olympic medal at the Paris Games in two months time, will face second seed and world no. 7 Wang Zhi Yi of China in the summit clash.
Home favourites Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down in a tense final against world champions Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Sang Jae at India Open, settling for their second successive runners-up finish, in New Delhi on Sunday.
Prannoy will take on Rajawat in the second round.
A 13-member team, comprising seven men and six women, was on Wednesday selected by the Badminton Association of India to participate in the Li Ning China Masters Super Series tournament to be held in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China from September 13-18.
There is no use of the BJP targeting the likes of Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin, directly by the party's political bosses, both in Delhi and the respective state capitals, or even using the Raj Bhavans to fire those salvos from. Successive elections have proved that it's counter-productive, if anything. But the BJP is yet to understand it, acknowledge it, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Indian badminton team received enthusiastic support from fellow athletes, including cricketers Washington Sundar, Sai Kishore and Tilak Varma.
Inspired by the peerless P V Sindhu and aspiring to be Indian badminton's aggressive new kid on the block. Tanvi Sharma is nothing like an average 15-year-old.
Satwik and Chirag have looked in ominous form, winning the Asian Games gold in Hangzhou, a Super 1000 crown in Indonesia, the Korea Open Super 500 and the Swiss Open super 300 last year before grabbing a a career-best ranking of World No.1, albeit for a brief time.
Former India cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin's bid to unseat Badminton Association of India's long-standing president V K Verma received a setback on Friday after an Andhra Pradesh court refused to grant a stay on BAI's election in Chennai on Sunday.
India's Kiran Geroge moves to quarters, Ashmita bows out of Thailand Open
Legendary radio personality Ameen Sayani passed into the ages on Tuesday, leaving the entertainment industry in a state of mourning.
Indian men's team failed to defend its title after going down fighting 1-3 to China
Tanisha and Ashwini will face the winner of the other semifinal between Taiwanese pair of Sung Shuo Yun and Yu Chien Hui in the final on Sunday.
Malvika, the only Indian woman left in the singles draw, overcame Karupathevan Letshanaa of Malaysia 21-12, 21-16.
Embattled shuttler Jwala Gutta said the national federation should not construe her "suggestions" as criticism since she had nothing against them and imposition of a life ban because of her blunt talking would be "silly".
Thackeray said since the SC directed Narwekar in May last year to take a decision on the pleas seeking disqualification of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, the speaker has met the chief minister twice.
Legislators of the ruling coalition partners in Jharkhand expressed solidarity with the Hemant Soren government on Wednesday and said the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader will continue as the chief minister.
Karthikeya Gulshan Kumar produced a thrilling performance
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