It is "irritating" to be unlucky all the time; perhaps they need some "divine intervention" to win crucial matches, said a frustrated Satwiksairaj Rankireddy after he and Chirag Shetty were beaten in the men's doubles semi-finals at the World Championships, in Tokyo, on Friday.
Tanvi Sharma's bid to script history by winning a gold medal at the BWF World Junior Championships ended in heartbreak as she lost in straight games to Thailand's Anyapat Phichitpreechasak
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty capped off a memorable campaign at the World Badminton Championships, signing-off with a historic bronze medal in the men's doubles competition after going down narrowly to Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the semi-finals, in Tokyo, on Saturday.
The former World Champion reaches the pre-quarterfinals for the first time since 2021.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) have opted against giving twice Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei a wildcard for the world championship, leaving Malaysia in an awkward selection position.
'After consulting closely with my team and with the guidance of the incredible Dr Pardiwala, we felt it was best for me to withdraw from all remaining BWF Tour events in 2025.'
Chirag and his longtime partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won the men's doubles bronze last week
The World No 6 will next face Spain's Pablo Abian on Wednesday.
Just like in her campaign opener against Japan's Akane Yamaguchi on Wednesday, Sindhu squandered a game advantage to lose yet again in the year-ending BWF World Tour Final
P V Sindhu bowed out, while H S Prannoy and Lakshya Sen scored hard-fought wins to advance in the Hong Kong Open Super 500 tournament.
'In the last couple of tournaments, we've served a lot better than in the past year. The game is too fast to rely on one style. You need multiple ways to score points, and that's what we are trying to develop.'
A fast and fluent Lakshya Sen ended a difficult stretch on the international circuit by defeating Japan's Yushi Tanaka in the men's singles final of the US $475,000 Australian Open Super 500 and clinching his first title of the season, in Sydney, on Sunday.
Double Olympic champion Lin Dan of China will defend his World Championships title in August after receiving a wild card for the Guangzhou event, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said on Thursday.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, on the other hand, moved one place to 31st.
Priyanshu Rajawat capped off an impressive week with a thrilling win in the final
Satwik-Chirag dished out a gritty performance to outwit the local favourites a
The prestigious awards recognise the achievements of the elite badminton players
'When I played against Sindhu didi in China, I am happy I managed to play better than I did last time.'
Asian Games champion shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy's father R Kasi Viswanatham died of cardiac arrest on Thursday morning.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has been nominated for the Woman Player of the Year Award of the Badminton World Federation after a consistent season which saw her occupy the world number one spot for a brief period.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand capped a remarkable week by clinching a maiden Super 300 title with a commanding straight-game victory over China's Bao Li Jing and Li Qian in the Syed Modi International final on Sunday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya presented the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award to badminton stars Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy.
Kidambi Srikanth continued his impressive run to enter the men's singles semi-finals with a straight-game win over top seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei at the Canada Open.
Lakshya's Paris hopes brighten, enters No.15 in Olympic Games qualification
No Indians featured in the women's doubles and mixed doubles rankings.
The London Olympics bronze medallist will next play seventh seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, who knocked out two-time defending champion Spain's Carolina Marin 21-18, 14-21, 21-15 in the other quarter-final.
Bhagat now has 11 medals, including six gold, two silver and three bronze medals in the world championships. He has the distinction of reaching the finals in all the editions, barring the 2007 and 2017 World Championships.
A medal prospect at the upcoming Paris Olympics, the men's doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty say they are well equipped to handle the pressure of expectations.
Leading the congratulatory messages from the film industry for the ace shuttler were Aamir Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Srikanth's Malaysia run shows he belongs at the top
Olympic medallists Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu sailed into the women's singles quarter-finals with straight-game wins but it was curtains for Kidambi Srikanth at the BWF Badminton World Championships, in Nanjing, China on Thursday.
The world number nine will play Hong Kong's fifth seed Angus Ng Ka Long in the last eight stage.
The Indian will have yet another uphill task at hand when he takes on Axelsen, the baby-faced badminton giant, who has terrorised his opponents in the last few years.
The script remained the same in the second game as well, with Sindhu maintaining her firm grip over the proceedings to race to a 6-0 lead in just two minutes.
India's badminton great Prakash Padukone will receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award this year from the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The CM expressed hope that budding athletes and sportspersons in the state can take inspiration from his achievement and adopt the same attitude of hard work and dedication shown by the Indian shuttler.
Coaching is the toughest job: Saina Nehwal on her future
India's top men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty withdrew from the BWF Sudirman Cup Finals due to illness.
Bornil Aakash Changmai became only the second Indian shuttler to win a gold medal in the Under-15 boys' singles category.
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