Nozomi Okuhara's harrowing experience after her touchdown in India was 'unfortunate and won't happen in future'
Outgoing coach Vimal Kumar criticized the BAI for giving preference to youngsters at the expense of experience.
Indian women shuttlers' progressed to their first-ever final at the Badminton Asia Team Championships after edging out two-time former champions Japan 3-2.
On Friday, Supanida Katethong came out on top against Indian star PV Sindhu in an intense quarter-final battle in which the Thai shuttler emerged 24-26, 21-17, 22-20 winner in one hour and 17 minutes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed as "historical accomplishment" Indian women shuttlers winning the Badminton Asia Team Championships, and said the way our 'nari shakti' (women power) has been excelling in various sports is phenomenal.
Ashmita Chaliha produced an inspired show to stun higher-ranked Michelle Li as the India scored a clinical 4-1 victory over Canada to make a positive start in the Uber Cup tournament in Chengdu, China, on Saturday.
Sindhu stands on the brink of history as she pursues the gold medal in the upcoming Games, having won a silver and bronze in 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo edition respectively.
A 13-member team, comprising seven men and six women, was on Wednesday selected by the Badminton Association of India to participate in the Li Ning China Masters Super Series tournament to be held in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China from September 13-18.
Sindhu pulls out of Uber Cup
Former India cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin's bid to unseat Badminton Association of India's long-standing president V K Verma received a setback on Friday after an Andhra Pradesh court refused to grant a stay on BAI's election in Chennai on Sunday.
Bihar Education Minister Chandrashekhar reiterated that temples are the path to "mental slavery" while schools mean the path of light in life, extending support to party MLA Fateh Bahadur Singh whose similar statement drew the ire of a fringe outfit that announced a "reward" of Rs 10 lakh to cut off his tongue.
Embattled shuttler Jwala Gutta said the national federation should not construe her "suggestions" as criticism since she had nothing against them and imposition of a life ban because of her blunt talking would be "silly".
The 22-year-old said adjusting to shuttle movement in a place near to the sea is different and he expects similar conditions in Paris, where he will travel on July 22.
Ons Jabeur was full of praise for former England midfielder David Beckham after their meeting this week.
Proving wrong his detractors' claim of being sidelined after denial of chief minister's post for fifth time last year, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan won Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha Lok Sabha seat for the sixth time by a record margin of 8.21 lakh votes.
National coach Pullela Gopichand refused to comment on the controversy over Prajakta Sawant who had accused him of "mental harassment" in her petition to the Bombay High Court which has allowed the shuttler to attend the ongoing training camp at his badminton academy in Hyderabad.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty hardly broke a sweat while defeating the Chinese pair of Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi to win the Thailand Open men's doubles crown in Bangkok on Sunday.
There's a new actor in town, and Shraddha Kapoor is particularly excited about it!
Isharani Baruah and Anmol Kharb shone bright as India all but assured its place in the quarter-finals of Uber Cup after beating Singapore 4-1 in the second tie of Group A, in Chengdu, China, on Sunday.
Lakshya Sen moved a place to world number 17, despite not competing in the last two weeks.
A film with a one-line plot, needed a lot more pizzazz, whistle-worthy dialogue, and a large-than-life, invincible protagonist. Karki makes a Rajinikanth kind of actioner (Bhaiyya Ji fights with a bidi in his mouth) but with a realistic soul, and falls between two boats.
In the coming assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal, who has been training under Vimal Kumar for the last one week, wants the former chief coach to travel to Incheon, Korea with her for the upcoming Asian Games.
To keep their MLAs together, political parties are organising dinner meetings and arranging hotel stays for them ahead of the council elections, which are taking place just three months ahead of the assembly polls in the state.
Kiran George lost to World champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters.
While Sindhu struggled to get winners, Young kept varying the pace and sending everything back.
P V Sindhu advanced to the second round after her opponent Li Yvonne Li of Germany retired after the first game.
Ashmita Chaliha produced a gallant fight before the young and inexperienced Indian women's team suffered a 0-3 loss to formidable Japan in the quarterfinals of the Uber Cup badminton tournament in Chengdu on Thursday.
Sindhu saw off Sim 21-13, 12-21, 21-14 in a 59-minute women's singles second-round match to register her third win over the Korean world number 34.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Wednesday announced five guarantees for women, including annual direct cash transfers of Rs 1 lakh to one woman from each of the country's poorest families and 50 per cent quota in all new recruitments in central government jobs.
It was a smooth performance from Sindhu as she was hardly tested by the Taiwanese qualifier
Home favourites Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down in a tense final against world champions Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Sang Jae at India Open, settling for their second successive runners-up finish, in New Delhi on Sunday.
India's Kiran Geroge moves to quarters, Ashmita bows out of Thailand Open
Prannoy will take on Rajawat in the second round.
The Indian badminton team received enthusiastic support from fellow athletes, including cricketers Washington Sundar, Sai Kishore and Tilak Varma.
Defending champions India's hopes of entering the Thomas Cup knockout stage as group topper were dashed by a clinical Indonesia who emerged 4-1 winners in their final pool match in Chengdu on Wednesday.
Saina was awarded a cheque of Rs 25 lakhs for her title-winning performance at the Australia Super Series in 2016, besides becoming the first Indian to become the World No. 1 and reaching the finals at All England champion in 2015.
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.
Satwik and Chirag have looked in ominous form, winning the Asian Games gold in Hangzhou, a Super 1000 crown in Indonesia, the Korea Open Super 500 and the Swiss Open super 300 last year before grabbing a a career-best ranking of World No.1, albeit for a brief time.
Tanisha and Ashwini will face the winner of the other semifinal between Taiwanese pair of Sung Shuo Yun and Yu Chien Hui in the final on Sunday.
