China's badminton superstar Lin Dan said he hopes world number one Lee Chong Wei, who is embroiled in a doping scandal, is able to return to the sport soon, state media reported.
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.
The Indian challenge ended at the $1,250,000 Indonesian Open after PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy suffered straight-game quarter-final defeats to crash out of the BWF World Super 1000 tournament in Jakarta.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Former badminton world number one Lee Chong Wei is hoping to be back on court for the start of the 2016 Olympic qualifiers in May after finally being given an April date for a hearing into his failed dope test.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday.
Disappointing the spectators at the Sardar Patel NSCI Stadium, Saina Nehwal pulled out of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) opener between Awadhe Warriors and Mumbai Rockets, citing a foot injury.
The London Olympics bronze medallist displaced Spain's Carolina Marin, who defeated her in the women's final of the World Championships in Jakarta last Sunday.
'Head out!' 'It has been a long time that we have not met family and friends.'
And, run to the court.'
In women's singles, both Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu climbed up the ladder despite not playing in any recent tournaments.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Ace Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy crashed out in the second round of the China Open Super Series after suffering straight game defeats in their respective events.
Legendary Prakash Padukone was revered as the world number one player during his hey days before the modern day computerised ranking system was introduced.
Prakash Padukone backed Sindhu to win the World Championship crown soon after two consecutive silver medal performances in the prestigious event.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
'Need a couple of upsets to win medal at Asian Games'
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.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
India's badminton ace P V Sindhu believes she would be in top form at the BWF's World Tour Final as a recent break gave her the time to be well-prepared for the season-ending tournament, starting on December 12.
Erratic Saina stunned by Chinese youngster
For India to send two shuttlers in Tokyo Olympics women's singles, both of them will have to be inside top 16 in the world rankings which will be released after the end of qualification period, on April 30, 2020.
Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram notched up the biggest triumph of his career by clinching $50,000 Yonex Dutch Open Grand Prix badminton tournament in Almere.
Indian badminton ace, Saina Nehwal continued her downward slide in the rankings falling to No 7 in the list.
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.
Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei welcomed the decision to use video reviews of disputed line calls after the world number one became the first in badminton to use the technology on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Rio Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu entered the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Super Series after posting a hard-fought victory over Singapore's Xiaoyu Liang even as Saina Nehwal bowed of the competition on Friday, ending all hopes of a Saina-Sindhu semi-final battle.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal faces the prospect of an early exit from the BWF World Superseries Finals after going down to Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China in a Group B match in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
Newly-crowned world No. 1 Saina Nehwal edged out China's Sun Yu to reach the women's singles semi-finals of the $8500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur.
Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy sailed into the pre-quarter-finals, but it was heartbreak for Parupalli Kashyap in the men's singles at the World Badminton Championships in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the tributes that poured in for Badminton Association of India president Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta, who passed away in Lucknow after suffering a heart attack on Wednesday.
After losing seven successive finals, PV Sindhu finally redeemed herself with the gold medal at the World Tour Finals.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu made a winning start to her maiden campaign at the prestigious BWF World Super Series Final, defeating higher-ranked Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in an entertaining opening women's singles Group B match in Dubai on Thursday. Sindhu, who recently clinched the China Super Series Premier and reached the finals at Hong Kong Open, eked out a 12-21 21-8 21-15 win over World No. 8 Yamaguchi in an exciting clash which lasted little over an hour. In the opening game, Sindhu conceded a 3-6 lead early on as she faltered with her strokes even as Yamaguchi grabbed points with her deception and riding on her rival's mistakes to go 11-5 up at the break.
Saina Nehwal's semi-final jinx continued as she suffered another defeat against her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women's singles at the Malaysia Super Series Premier, in Shah Alam, on Saturday.
In the women's singles match, Sindhu brought some smiles back in the Indian camp after seeing off Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-15, 19-21, 21-13, setting up a clash with Japan's Aya Ohori on the eve of her 23rd birthday on Thursday.
The 30-year-old Indian shuttler had an impressive run in the $75,000 BWF Tour Super 100 tournament before caving in tamely 14-21, 10-21 to Shesar in 28 minutes.
Kidambi Srikanth might be inching towards the coveted World No 1 ranking after his record-equalling Super Series win in Paris but he says he does not want to lose sleep over chasing it.