Srikanth, a former world number one, was left with a bloodied nose after going through multiple COVID tests ahead of the YONEX Thailand Open earlier this year.
'In the last few months, we have been pushing ourselves and training hard. Even in the pandemic, we continued to train under the guidance of Gaurav Khanna sir and never deterred from our focus.'
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal created history on Saturday by becoming the first Indian singles player to reach the summit clash of the BWF Super Series Finals after defeating Tine Baun of Denmark during the semi-finals in Liuzhou in China.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
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.
Sindhu and Saina will once again be India's best bet as they look to put up a good show this week.
Srikanth held a 4-1 record over Prannoy coming into this match, but the shuttler was unable to deliver. Srikanth won the first game 21-13, but Prannoy won the second set comprehensively.
Saina, who has been battling illness and injuries, is going through a bad patch, having lost six times in the first round this season.
It's going to be a hell of journey, says Sindhu welcoming new coach Hafiz Hashim
Placed at number 10 in the Race to Guanzhou rankings, Srikanth needed to win the tournament to have any hopes of qualifying for the season-ending World Tour Final in December.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
Srikanth eyes elusive Asian Games medal, hopes to be third time lucky
Parupalli Kashyap continued his impressive run to advance to the semi-finals of the Singapore Open Super Series badminton tournament, even as young H S Prannoy was left ruing his luck as a foot injury forced him to concede his quarter-final, on Friday.
Lakshya Sen, returning from a break, suffered a first round exit, while Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand entered the pre-quarters of the Asia Badminton Championship.
Seventh seeded Indians Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto clinched the mixed doubles title with a straight-games' win over compatriots T Hema Nagendra Babu and Srivedya Gurazada.
India's top badminton players Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth took a big step on way to reaching the semi-finals at the World Super Series Finals by securing second consecutive wins in their respective group in Dubai.
Marin retained the world title with a 21-16, 21-19 win over the Indian ace.
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 Indian pair had participated in Super 1000 events in 2018 and 2019 but this is the first time it entered the semi-finals.
The 2021 All England Open will be the second tournament this year to offer ranking points to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, after the Swiss Open.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) shut down the world tour and other sanctioned tournaments following the completion of the All-England in March due to the global health crisis.
With the two teams locked 2-2 in the overall tie after the first the three matches, it was left to their respective mixed doubles pairs to push them ahead.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
COVID-19 is a stark reminder that man should now learn to respect nature and not tinker with it, says Indian shuttler Sameer Verma. The shuttler also felt that the coronavirus-forced break is an opportunity to fix mental weakness and that a six-week training regime should be good enough to regain match-fitness after normalcy returns.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Reigning World champion P V Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth were handed easy group stage outings in the badminton draws unveiled on Thursday for the Tokyo Olympics, starting on July 23.
She clinched three individual titles and a couple of bronze medals at prestigious team events this season but far from satiated, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal feels she could have garnered more trophies had it not been for some missed opportunities.
India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal accused the sport's administrators of placing money above players' safety by continuing last week's All England Championships despite the coronavirus pandemic. The 30-year-old lost in the opening round of the marquee event, which was among a handful which continued even as the bulk of global sporting calendar was either postponed or cancelled.
Prannoy and Sen played five times in 2022 with Sen coming into the match with a slender 3-2 advantage.
Former India badminton coach Vimal Kumar reckons a tough journey awaits Saina Nehwal, who will need to target specific tournaments to prolong her career after the COVID-19 pandemic shattered her Tokyo Olympics dreams.
'Need a couple of upsets to win medal at Asian Games'
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen and men's doubles combination of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy registered contrasting victories to reach their first Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2022 final, while PV Sindhu was knocked out, in New Delhi on Saturday.
The 2020 international calendar concluded with the three tournaments in the Asia leg which was conducted in Bangkok in successive weeks.
Top Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered a straight-game loss to seventh seeded English pair of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy 17-21, 14-21 in a last-8 match.
Sindhu progressed to the quarterfinals with an easy straight-game win over Japan's Aya Ohori
World champion P V Sindhu frittered away a one-game lead and lost 21-16, 16-21, 19-21 to Japan's Sayaka Takahashi in 66 minutes.
Erratic Saina stunned by Chinese youngster
P V Sindhu will be eager to return to the podium as former winner Saina Nehwal looks to regain her touch
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth moved into the quarter-finals of Japan Open badminton tournament after registering contrasting wins but it was curtains for H S Prannoy.
