Kiran George lost to World champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters.
Satwik-Chirag pair achieves career-best world no. 2 ranking
Ace Indian shuttlers, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, had a disappointing start to their campaign at the BWF Super Series Finals as they suffered straight-game defeats on the opening day of the prestigious event in Dubai.
World no. 5 Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin were the first to dazzle as they beat Korea's Kim Won Ho and Jeong Na Eun 21-19, 21-18 in the mixed doubles semifinals at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall.
Facing each other for the first time in seven months after their heated Denmark Open semifinal clash, the double Olympic medalist Indian reeled off five successive points to take the opening game.
Former champion PV Sindhu progressed to the women's singles second round but Lakshya Sen went down fighting to world number one Viktor Axelsen at the Singapore Open Super 750 badminton tournament in Singapore on Wednesday.
Star Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty fought valiantly before going down to the Chinese duo of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in an exciting men's doubles final of the China Masters Super 750 tournament
It was a smooth performance from Sindhu as she was hardly tested by the Taiwanese qualifier
Sindhu had beaten world number 18 Zhang in the Malaysian Open quarter-finals in May this year but the Chinese avenged that defeat and also made the lifetime win-loss record to 3-2 against the Indian.
Fresh from their Korea Open triumph, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will look to continue their dream run.
India's Saina Nehwal lost to Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying 21-16, 18-21, 21-14 and was knocked out of the BWF World Superseries Final in Dubai on Friday.
Srikanth fought better in the second, but Yew was too good on the day, to emerge triumphant.
Lakshya Sen went down fighting against reigning All England champion Li Shi Feng of China in the men's singles semi-finals.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty achieved a career-best world number three
Sindhu, Lakshya win openers; Sai Praneeth loses in US Open
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Sen has a 4-2 head-to-head record against his final opponent Li Shi Feng, the reigning All-England champion. Sen had defeated him recently at the Thailand Open.
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.
Young shuttler Tanisha Crasto believes she and doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa have the game to match the world's best.
Lakshya Sen dished out a badminton masterpiece to notch up his second BWF Super 500 title with a straight-game win over Li Shi Feng of China in the final.
Verma beat his Taiwanese opponent 21-18, 21-14.
P V Sindhu has been ruled out of action for the next few weeks after scans found a niggle in her left knee.
B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, however, suffered a 21-23, 21-13, 12-21 loss against Korean pair of Song hyun Cho and Lee Jung Hyun in their mixed doubles opening round.
H S Prannoy, who won a bronze medal in the singles at the Asian Games, has decided to switch allegiance to Tamil Nadu from Kerala.
The celebration of this historic feat was not yet over when Indian shuttlers scripted yet another jaw-dropping show in Birmingham, returning with six medals, including three golds, a silver and two bronze medals in August.
Srikanth lost 21-23, 8-21 to Korea's Chia Hao Lee, continuing his dismal run in international circuit this season.
Both Sen and Srikanth are fighting to be inside the top 16 by April 28 next year to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Prannoy registered a 21-18, 22-20 win over the world number 12 Chen
Indian shuttler Kiran George says his giant-killing act at the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament earlier this year gave him the self-belief, which proved to be the key en route his second BWF title at the Indonesia Masters.
Saina Nehwal, a bronze medallist in 2012 London Olympics, dropped a place to be at ninth position, while P V Sindhu retained her 11th spot in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings issued on Thursday.
Prannoy is only seeded Indian player at No. 7 in the men's singles draw of 32 as he will begin his campaign against Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, against whom the Indian has a 4-1 win-loss record.
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.
Eyeing a third Olympic medal, ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu will now move her base from Hyderabad to Bengaluru to train under the legendary Prakash Padukone in the build-up to the Paris Games.
Bornil Aakash Changmai became only the second Indian shuttler to win a gold medal in the Under-15 boys' singles category.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
The tie was already inconsequential for HS Prannoy as he had lost his earlier two Group A matches.
Chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand on Monday singled out world number one doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as favourites for an Olympic medal and said two-time medallist PV Sindhu too is on the right path and can deliver once again at the Paris Games.
Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu will next play Japan's Natsuki Nidaira, while Sen will be up against Ygor Coelho of Brazil.
Sindhu, Sen look to regain lost touch in Canada Open
P V Sindhu and Aakarshi Kashyap advanced to the women's singles second round at the Denmark Open Super 750 badminton tournament.
