India's badminton ace P V Sindhu entered the summit clash of BWF World Tour Finals with a hard fought win over Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the semi-finals, in Bali, on Saturday.
Asian Games champion shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy's father R Kasi Viswanatham died of cardiac arrest on Thursday morning.
Fellow Indian Kidambi Srikanth also jumped two places to sit at the 12th spot, while Lakshya Sen continued to be the best-placed Indian male shuttler at world number 9.
Earlier, the women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy suffered their second successive loss in the event, going down fighting 19-21, 20-22 to Bulgaria's Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva to bow out of contention.
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.
'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.'
Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya presented the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award to badminton stars Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy.
Srikanth made a good start in the second game, moving to 7-3 advantage but Lee once again turned the tables, jumping to 13-9 and kept his nose ahead to eventually shut the doors on the Indian.
Sindhu, who had finished runners-up at the last edition in Dubai, will have a tough task at hand as she has been clubbed with defending champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei and USAs' Beiwen Zhang in Group A.
This was their third semifinal appearance on the BWF Tour this season, having earlier reached the last four at the Singapore Open and India Open.
'When I played against Sindhu didi in China, I am happy I managed to play better than I did last time.'
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu continued her unbeaten run while debutant Sameer Verma also qualified for the knockout stage with a straight-game win in his last Group B match at the BWF World Tour Finals.
Seventeen-year-old Unnati, champion at the 2022 Odisha Masters and 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters, was no match for world No. 2 and top seed Pornpawee Chochuwong, going down 14-21, 11-21 in just 39 minutes.
Former World No. 1 India's Kidambi Srikanth bows out of US Open badminton tournament
The BWF also shared its Standard Operation Procedure with member associations, saying any breach "can result in accreditation being revoked and participants not permitted to enter the venue."
India's Kiran Geroge moves to quarters, Ashmita bows out of Thailand Open
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced a new 2020 tournaments calendar on Friday with the World Tour set to return with the Taipei Open from Sept. 1-6.
'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.'
PV Sindhu recorded a consolation win over China's He Bingjiao in the third Group A match to end her campaign on a positive note
Srikanth's Malaysia run shows he belongs at the top
Chirag and his longtime partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won the men's doubles bronze last week
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have regained their top spot following their Thailand Open title triumph on Sunday.
Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth capped a remarkable campaign with a runner-up finish at the Malaysia Masters Super in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, going down in straight games to China's world No. 4 Li Shi Feng in the men's singles final.
P V Sindhu ended her campaign with a consolation win at the BWF World Tour Finals but Kidambi Srikanth had a disappointing finish
India's P V Sindhu squandered an 11-6 lead in the second game before going down 18-21, 21-18, 21-8 in 68 minutes to former world number one Akane Yamaguchi.
Tanvi will take on top seed Beiwen Zhang of the United States in the final.
Indian shuttler Kiran George's impressive run at the Korea Masters came to an end with a semifinal loss to Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn
The prestigious awards recognise the achievements of the elite badminton players
Star Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth fought their hearts out before suffering close defeats in their respective group 'B' openers at the US$ 1.5 million HSBC BWF World Tour Finals, in Bangkok, on Wednesday.
Coaching is the toughest job: Saina Nehwal on her future
The apex body also advised "teams and participants entering tournaments during the European and Asian legs" to "not return to their home countries as many would then have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period upon their return."
The world number nine will play Hong Kong's fifth seed Angus Ng Ka Long in the last eight stage.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty gained a place to achieve a career-best ranking
After Canada Open triumph, Sen jumps 7 places to be at 12th spot in world rankings
Kiran George lost to World champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters.
BWF said that Finland will host the Sudirman Cup Finals in September-October while the season-ending World Tour Finals will be staged in Indonesia.
Treesa and Gayatri will be up against fourth-seeded Japanese pair of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida in the semi-finals on Saturday.
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.
Both Super 100 tournaments have now been removed from the BWF's revamped calendar.
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.
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