Saina Nehwal once again faltered at the semi-final stage as she suffered a straight game defeat at the hands of China's Wang Yihan in the women's singles at the Asia Badminton Championships, in Wuhan, China, on Saturday.
The Badminton Association of India is optimistic about China's participation in next month's India Open despite fears surrounding the deadly coronavirus as Chinese shuttlers are in quarantine for almost a fortnight in Europe.
The selectors had also proposed to pick one pair each for men's and women's doubles and two mixed doubles combinations through a round-robin tournament format to decide the final standings.
India's campaign came to a premature halt in the All-England Badminton Championship when ace shuttler Saina Nehwal was thrashed by Chinese Shixian Wang in the quarter-finals of the women's singles in Birmingham on Friday.
World champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn crashed out of the India Open Super 750 badminton tournament
The Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty shocked reigning World champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan to join P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal in the quarter-finals of the US $750,000 French Open, in Paris, on Thursday.
Saina Nehwal endured a frustrating title drought but Indian badminton continued to move forward with the emergence of P V Sindhu as the next big sensation and the introduction of the ambitious Indian Badminton League this year.
Lakshya Sen is aware that his Olympic qualification is still in choppy waters but said he has been working on his "variations" and "deceptions" during the off-season to regain his world's top-10 position and seal his Paris Games berth.
You don't prep for 2028 but for 2040, or even 2044. Sustained sporting excellence is based on mass support, grassroots development, and funding - and it is this trifecta India needs to work on, systematically, asserts Prem Panicker.
Lakshya Sen said the win against reigning All England Champion Li Shi Feng gives him confidence and belief in the Olympic qualification year.
Brimming with confidence, India will again look to punch above their weight when they run into 14-time winners Indonesia in the final of Thomas Cup in Bangkok on Sunday, seeking to create history one more time.
PV Sindhu cruised into the second round but compatriot Saina Nehwal bowed out fighting in the Badminton Asia Championships.
India's badminton stars Saina Nehwal and Purapalli Kashyap are all set to tie the knot on December 16.
20-year-old Malvika Bansod, ranked 111th, took 34 minutes to register a straight games victory against former World No 1 Saina Nehwal.
Indian shuttlers bagged the Asian Youth badminton championship titles in both Under-15 and Under-17 categories to wrap up the tournament with two gold and two bronze, their best ever performance at the competition, in Kudus, Indonesia, on Sunday.
Boe will also help other doubles team under the TOPS -- mixed doubles pair of Satwik and Ashwini Ponnappa and women's doubles duo of Ashwini and Sikki Reddy.
The Indian men's badminton team scripted a memorable 3-2 win over Malaysia to enter the semifinals of Thomas Cup for the first time in 43 years
The sixth seeded Indian from Uttarakhand, who had won a bronze medal in the last edition of the competition, notched up 21-19, 21-18 upset win over Vitidsarn in the summit clash that clocked 46 minutes.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Set to return after an injury-induced break, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu is aware the road to Paris will be "challenging" and she needs to be "smarter" in her pursuit of coveted gold medal in the French capital.
The Indian men's team is searching for its maiden medal at the tournament. No Indian men's team has ever reached the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup.
Jwala says Sindhu should scan through all the videos of her past matches and work on her strategy.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
On Saturday, Sen had become only the fifth Indian after Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980, 1981), Pullela Gopichand (2001) and Saina Nehwal (2015) to reach the final of the prestigious tournament after outwitting defending champion Lee Zii Jia in a gruelling semi-final.
India's Lakshya Sen secured his maiden Super 500 title by winning the Yonex-Sunrise India Open with a stunning straight-game victory over reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the men's singles final in New Delhi on Sunday.
Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this eye-catching photo feature.
Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal reached the quarter-finals of the Asia Badminton Championship after brushing aside Thailand's Nitchaon Jindapol in straight games, in Wuhan, China, on Thursday.
Two-time Olympic-medallist P V Sindhu made a winning return from a lengthy injury lay-off as India stunned formidable China 3-2 in the women's competition of the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Shah Alam, Malaysia on Wednesday.
The 14-time national champion said she is looking forward to play her role in the development of sports in the country.
After a highly successful 2012, Saina Nehwal will look to start the new year on a winning note when she takes the court at the season-opening Korea Super Series Premier badminton tournament at Seoul on Wednesday.
India's top shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the semi-finals of the Korea Open Super 500 badminton tournament with contrasting wins in Suncheon on Friday.
However, the Indian duo of Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan suffered a crushing 8-21, 4-21 loss to Denmark's Mathias Thyrri and Mai Surrow, the mixed doubles first round match lasting barely 21 minutes.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
'Badminton has best shot at medals in Tokyo and a letter was sent to IOA to this respect on Monday mentioning the six-member support team that also includes chief coach Gopichand's name along with the squad of four players.'
'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.
The Indian badminton team went down fighting against hosts South Korea (1-3) in the women's team badminton semi-finals to settle for their maiden bronze medal at the Asian Games in Incheon on Sunday.
P V Sindhu-spearheaded Awadhe Warriors inched a step closer to the semifinal spot after they defeated Mumbai Masters 3-2 in the inaugural Indian Badminton League in Bangalore.
In-form PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will look to break new grounds as they spearhead India's charge for an elusive gold at the 18th Asian Games badminton event which begins with the team competitions, in Jakarta, on Sunday.
India's shuttle queen Saina Nehwal emphatically progressed into the quarterfinals of the World Badminton Championship.
The World No 11 Srikanth will take on China's Lu Guang Zu in the next round.
