'I never imagined that a doll would be made on me. It feels great to be recognised by Barbie,' says the World Para-badminton champion who was also honoured by Time magazine.
Indian shuttler HS Prannoy grabbed his career-best world number 12 spot.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Riding on her title-triumph at the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold, India's P V Sindhu, on Thursday, jumped one place to be just outside the top 10 in the latest BWF ranking.
India coach Pullella Gopichand on Wednesday accused Japanese badminton pair Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa of "wanting to lose" their group match after his women's doubles team Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa failed to qualify for the knockout stage in Group B amid allegations of match-throwing, at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal attained a new high as she climbed to a career-best second in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released on Thursday.
Palak is certain to make the cut for Tokyo Paralympics in women's doubles as she is currently ranked fifth in the world. The top six in the list to be published by International Paralympic Committee will get automatic qualification.
Saina Nehwal looks set to cap a remarkable year on a high. The ace Indian shuttler entered the semi-finals of the BWF World Super Series Finals with a fine straight-game win over Juliane Schenk of Germany,in Shenzhen, China, on Friday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal is virtually out of the semifinals race of the BWF World Super Series Finals after losing her second consecutive women's singles Group B match in the $ 500,000 event in Shenzhen, China on Thursday.
Tennis Grand Slam champions Serena, Osaka and Kerber are top 3 in the famed list
Saina, who has been battling illness and injuries, is going through a bad patch, having lost six times in the first round this season.
Indian ace Kidambi Srikanth's gallant fight ended with a narrow three-game loss against home favourite Tommy Sugiarto in the men's singles finals of the $ 120,000 Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, in Malang, on Sunday.
Saina Nehwal feels the year going by is one of the best of her career but rued that a series of injuries affected her chances of winning more titles.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected over 30 lakh people worldwide, has halted all sports, including badminton, across the globe with even the Tokyo Olympics being pushed to next year. Tennis star Novak Djokovic had recently said he is opposed to a compulsory coronavirus vaccination.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
Rising Indian shuttler P V Sindhu has broken into the world's top 20 in the latest badminton rankings following her giant-killing exploits at last week's China Masters.
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 Thursday
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that the government will keep in close touch with all relevant groups to ensure a virus outbreak does not have affect the Summer Olympics. Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said organisers are not considering cancelling the Olympics, which start on July 24.
It was another good year for PV Sindhu, who won the India Open Super Series and Korea Open Super Series titles, besides bagging the silver at Glasgow World Championship and finishing as runners-up at Hong Kong Open last month.
The World No 6 will next face Spain's Pablo Abian on Wednesday.
HS Prannoy started his campaign at the World Championship in style beating New Zealand's Abhinav Manota in straight games to enter the second round.
Former badminton World No 1 Lee Chong Wei has been nominated for Malaysia's 2014 sportsman of the year award.
Indian shuttlers and officials welcomed the Badminton World Federation's decision to defer the controversial mandatory skirt rule till December and expressed hope that the body would come up with a better regulation after fresh deliberations.
Following her bronze-medal finish at the recently-concluded World badminton Championships, India's top shuttler P V Sindhu has re-entered the top-10 in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings, released on Thursday.
India's ace shullter Saina Nehwal put up a strong fight but went down 13-21, 21-13, 6-21 to World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying in Denmark Open final on Sunday.
Riding on her stupendous performance at the Australian Open Super Series, Indian ace Saina Nehwal jumped two places to reach the World No. six in the latest BWF ranking released on Thursday. The 26-year-old from Hyderabad, who clinched the Australian Open title -- her first of the season - last Sunday, now has 75,369 points in her kitty.
Malaysian shuttler Lee Chong Wei was a relieved man on Monday after being handed a backdated eight-month ban for doping by the Badminton World Federation, leaving him free to go for gold at the Rio Olympics next year.
Rio-bound Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal, who just clinched the Australian Open Super Series title in Sydney, said she wants to be aggressive like India Test skipper Virat Kohli. The 26-year-old from Hyderabad defeated Sun Yu of China in the finals yesterday to notch up her first title of the season ahead of the Rio Olympics.
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.
Famous sports personalities who wed in 2019.
An unprecedented seven Indian shuttlers are set to qualify for the Olympics Games at Rio de Janeiro when the official BWF rankings are released on Thursday.
Indian mixed doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa shocked Commonwealth Games silver medallists England's Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the $ 1 million China Open
World No 2 Carolina Marin of Spain also figures in her same group and Sindhu will have task cut out when she faces the Spaniard on Friday.
While praising the depth in the Indian men's ranks and expecting it to last for the next 10 years, badminton legend Prakash Padukone lamented that the women's side did not possess the same depth in class after world no. 2 Saina Nehwal and no. 12 P V Sindhu.
Top seeds P V Sindhu and K Srikanth notched up contrasting victories to advance to the third round of the $120,000 Indonesia Masters Grand Prix Gold tournament, in Malang, on Thursday.
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.
Despite clinching the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold title last week, Indian shuttler H S Prannoy slipped three places to World No 27 in the latest BWF rankings released on Thursday.
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.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal turned in a superb display to stun world No 3 Xin Wang in the last Group B match of the BWF Super Series Finals in Liuzhou, China, on Friday. The world No 4, who had already qualified for the semi-finals, won 21-17, 22-20 in 39 minutes.
