P Kashyap insisted that he too has an outside chance of qualifying for the Tokyo Games but he has no way to pursue it as he can't train at the camp.
Top shuttlers, including Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain and Rio silver medallists P V Sindhu, will be for grabs when the high-profile Players' Auction for the lucrative Premier Badminton League (PBL) gets underway in New Delhi on Wednesday. Besides Marin and Sindhu, Olympic bronze winner Viktor Axelsen of Denmark will be among the 16 Olympic medallists who have confirmed their participation at the second edition of the event to be held from January 1 to 14.
The Delhi high court, on Thursday, passed a stay-order against the life-ban imposed on Jwala Gutta by the Badminton Association of India.
The Chinese men beat Denmark 3-1 in the Thomas Cup 24 hours after the women overcame South Korea to retain the Uber Cup.
Top seed Kidambi Srikanth stormed into the semi-finals of the US $120,000 Swiss Grand Prix Gold badminton championship after a straight games victory over Takuma Ueda of Japan in the men's singles quarter-finals in Basel on Friday. The Indian beat the eighth seed 21-11, 21-12 in 31 minutes.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Hong Kong Super Series badminton tournament after a straight-game quarter-final defeat to lower-ranked Tine Baun of Denmark, while giant-killer RMV Gurusaidutt also made an exit, on Friday.
The London Olympic bronze medallist will face either Denmark's Line Christophersen or compatriot Ira Sharma for a place in the finals at the Super 100 event, which is a part of BWF's revised Olympic qualification events.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal hardly broke sweat in a straight games victory over Chinese Taipei's Shao Chieh Cheng, which gave her a berth in the women's singles quarter-finals of the Malaysian Super Series badminton, in Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday. The fourth seed rode on her smashes and better net play to outwit Cheng 21-19, 21-8 in 31 minutes.
The Chinese was given a tough time by unseeded Malaysian Lee Tsuen Seng before making the semi-final in the All-England badminton.
It will not be a Saina Nehwal versus P V Sindhu final in the women's singles but the men's singles will be an all-Indian affair with P Kashyap and K Srikanth set to clash for the title at the $120,000 Syed Modi International Badminton tournament, in Lucknow.
Indian shuttlers had a mixed day in the opening round of the China Open with Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu easing into Round II, while Kidambi Srikanth and Ajay Jayaram making early exits.
H S Prannoy lost in the opening round even as compatriots Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu entered the second round of the $ 350,000 India Open Super 500 tournament, in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Kidambi Srikanth, the centre of attention in the Rio Olympics on Wednesday, can take heart from Hyderabad city mate P V Sindhu for his men's singles quarter-final clash against Chinese badminton icon Lin Dan.
Abhinn Shyam Gupta went down to Neils Christian Kaldau of Denmark in the first round of the Thailand Open Badminton Championship.
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.
Sindhu has fallen in the early stages at all tournaments except the French Open since winning her maiden World Championship title in August.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal, who had a disappointing Asian Games, rose a rung to reclaim a career-high second spot after 13 weeks in the latest Badminton World Federation rankings.
The Indian, ranked 27th in the world, lost 15-21, 21-12, 16-21 to her world number 11 opponent at the Elizabeth Stadium on Tuesday.
Satwik and Ashwini, who reached the semi-finals at Toyota Thailand Open Super 1000 in January, will meet the winner of the match between fifth-seeded Malaysians Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing and Germany's Jones Ralfy Jansen and Kilasu Ostermeyer.
PV Sindhu dominated from start to finish and smashed her way into the second round of the prestigious All England Badminton Championships, in Birmingham, on Wednesday.
Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal said the triumph at the China Open Super Series Premier was one of her "toughest" and it showed that the hard work was paying off.
Denmark's Tine Rasmussen reached the final of the women's singles at the All England Badminton Championships for the third year in succession after edging past gallant Indian seventh seed Saina Nehwal 21-19, 21-17.
Saina Nehwal became the first Indian woman to reach the semi-finals of the All England Super Series badminton championship when she defeated German Juliane Schenk in straight games in the quarter-finals in London.
Arvind Bhatt stunned world No 8 Joachim Persson of Denmark and Saina Nehwal beat Thailand's Salakjit Ponsana in first round singles matches at the Hong Kong Super Series badminton championships.
The Indian challenge in the China Open Super Series badminton tournament in Shanghai ended on Friday with Arvind Bhatt suffering a straight-game defeat at the hands of China's Kai Wen in the quarter-finals. Bhatt was thrashed 13-21, 10-21 by Kai in a lop-sided battle that lasted just 28 minutes.
Olympian Anup Sridhar pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, beating world No 2 Peter Gade of Denmark to enter the quarter-finals of the Singapore Open Super Series badminton tournament. Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal also reached the quarter-finals after staving off a scare from Indonesian Adrianti Firdasari in Singapore City.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
P V Sindhu and K Srikanth have been given the top billing in the respective women's and men's singles badminton competitions of the Commonwealth Games
Saina Nehwal has once again resumed her partnership with long-time mentor and former coach Pullela Gopichand and would be starting her training at his academy in Hyderabad after recovering from a thigh strain.
Saina Nehwal made a disappointing return to the court, crashing to a first round defeat in the Japan Open Super Series badminton tournament in Tokyo on Wednesday. However, P Kashyap kept Indian hopes alive by advancing to the pre-quarter-finals.
They would only be allowed in the academy after they produce COVID-19 negative certificate, the SAI said in a release.
Olympian Anup Sridhar's challenge fizzled out but Anand Pawar survived a stiff one to emerge the lone Indian qualifier to reach the main draw at the Indonesian Open Super Series badminton tournament in Jakarta on Tuesday.
India's Ajay Jayaram, Parupalli Kashyap and Lakhanee Sarang entered the second round of the men's singles event of the Yonex Dutch Open badminton tournament in Almere on Wednesday. Top seed Jayaram defeated Henri Aarnio of Finland 21-16 21-12 in his opening match, while 11th seed Kashyap defeated Bjorn Seguin of US 21-12 24-22 and Lakhanee prevailed over Scotland's Kieran Merrilees 21-12 21-18 in the first round encounters.
National champion Chetan Anand, Ajay Jayaram and Aditi Mutatkar posted fluent victories to make it to the last eight stage in the Toulouse Open badminton championships in Toulouse, France.
The Indian ace went down tamely to Tine Rasmussen of Denmark in her opening match of badminton Super Series Masters finals. World No 10 Saina lost 18-21, 14-21 to the world No 2 Rasmussen in just 27 minutes.
Check out the gold medallists on Day 13 of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday:
Legendary Prakash Padukone was revered as the world number one player during his hey days before the modern day computerised ranking system was introduced.
Almost a month after dispatching the Indonesian en route his historic world championships bronze at Basel, Praneeth went down to the same opponent
Congratulate Indian badminton's golden girl P V Sindhu who continued her golden run in 2016 as she triumphed at the China Open to win her maiden Super Series title
P V Sindhu secured her fifth World Championships medal following a stunning comeback while B Sai Praneeth became the first Indian male shuttler in 36 years to grab a podium place in badminton's prestigious event, in Basel, on Friday.