Sindhu, Lakshya lose in quarterfinals; Indian challenge ends in Indonesia Masters
Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Lakshya Sen entered the quarterfinals of Indonesia Masters badminton tournament after securing straight-game wins in their respective round-of-16 matches in Jakarta on Thursday.
Lakshya Sen displayed remarkable mental and physical strength to defeat China's Shi Yu Qi in a thrilling three-game badminton match at the BWF world tour event in Birmingham.
PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen progressed to the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament with straight-game wins. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also advanced, while Kidambi Srikanth and other Indian players were eliminated.
PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, and Kidambi Srikanth secured victories in their respective singles matches at the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament, while other Indian players experienced mixed results.
Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu progressed to the men's and women's singles second round with straight game wins in a mixed day for India at the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament.
PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, and Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the singles second round with straight-game wins on a mixed day for India at the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament.
Sindhu, Prannoy advance to second round of Singapore Open
Play was briefly interrupted during the women's doubles semifinal of the ongoing India Open Super 750 tournament on Saturday after some "particles from the bird's nest" fell on the court.
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy stormed into the men's doubles second round of the Macau Open Super 300 with a straight-game win over Malaysia's Low Hang Yee and Ng Eng Cheong.
Pusarla Sindhu romped into the final of the World Badminton Championships, trouncing China's Chen Yu Fei 21-7, 21-14 in semi-finals, in Basel, on Saturday.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty cruised into the quarter-finals of the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament in Paris.
'My aim is to stay on the World Tour year by year. I am not thinking about the 2028 Olympics'
Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty, and Tharun Mannepalli progressed to the second round of the men's singles competition at the Macau Open Super 300 badminton tournament after registering fine wins on Wednesday.
Star India shuttler P V Sindhu made an exit from Thailand Open after going down in straight games to Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei in the semi-finals in Bangkok on Saturday.
World no. 5 Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin were the first to dazzle as they beat Korea's Kim Won Ho and Jeong Na Eun 21-19, 21-18 in the mixed doubles semifinals at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall.
Sindhu will play her opening match on Sunday, while B Sai Praneeth and the men's pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be in action on Saturday.
Join us in congratulating Sindhu on her historic achievement.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy have been handed relatively easy groups for the Paris Games, which begin on July 26.
An under-strength Indian women's team suffered a 0-5 defeat to the mighty China in its final group A fixture of the Uber Cup.
B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, however, suffered a 21-23, 21-13, 12-21 loss against Korean pair of Song hyun Cho and Lee Jung Hyun in their mixed doubles opening round.
Sindhu hardly had to break a sweat as she posted a comfortable 21-14 21-7 win over the third seeded Japanese shuttler in just 44 minutes.
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu are on a collision course at next week's World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, as they have been placed in the same half after the world governing body re-conducted the women's singles draw.
Just like in her campaign opener against Japan's Akane Yamaguchi on Wednesday, Sindhu squandered a game advantage to lose yet again in the year-ending BWF World Tour Final
World No. 1 Yamaguchi, however, had to toil hard to get across three-time world champion and Rio gold medallist Carolina Marin of Spain 21-17, 14-21, 21-19 in the day's first match at the IG stadium in New Delhi.
Don't do any strange things in preparation ahead of Olympics, Gopichand's advise to shuttlers
India's Tokyo Paralympics gold winner Pramod Bhagat was on Thursday named among six shuttlers for the Male Para Badminton Player of the Year by the sport's world body but none of his compatriots featured in the able-bodied awards' categories.
China, who have yet to lose a single badminton match to another nation at the Tokyo Olympics, won gold and silver in mixed doubles on Friday after Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping beat favourites Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong 21-17, 17-21, 21-19.
PV Sindhu eked out a three-game win over world number 1 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan
Reigning World champion P V Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth were handed easy group stage outings in the badminton draws unveiled on Thursday for the Tokyo Olympics, starting on July 23.
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.
The absence of double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu, London Games bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also hurt India's prospect as the team cut a sorry figure at the team-tournament.
None of the other three quarters boast of such a strong star cast but there would be a few mouth-watering opening round clashes to look forward to.
PV Sindhu produced another impressive show as she rallied to a three-game win over USA's Beiwen Zhang to advance to the women's singles quarterfinals
The Indians, who were also Asian champions, defeated the current world champions in 43 minutes.
Chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand on Monday singled out world number one doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as favourites for an Olympic medal and said two-time medallist PV Sindhu too is on the right path and can deliver once again at the Paris Games.
India's P V Sindhu squandered an 11-6 lead in the second game before going down 18-21, 21-18, 21-8 in 68 minutes to former world number one Akane Yamaguchi.
The struggle of Indian women shuttlers on the BWF circuit is quite apparent, but Saina Nehwal backs her colleagues by saying that even the strong Chinese players are finding it difficult to dish out strong performances on a consistent basis and expressed hope that the lean patch of the singles players will end soon.
'It is the first time that India badminton player has won two Olympic medals in badminton, so it is a great achievement not only for Sindhu but also a big moment for my teaching life.'
Sindhu has said while there will be a lot of expectations on her going into the Tokyo Olympics
