Indian shuttlers who competed at the Paris Olympics, including PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, are giving the tournament, the year's final BWF Super 1000 event, a miss.
Defending champions India sailed to the knockout stage of the Thomas Cup with a 5-0 rout of England.
Top Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered a straight-game loss to seventh seeded English pair of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy 17-21, 14-21 in a last-8 match.
Later, India's challenge came to a crashing halt after the women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost their quarterfinals.
'Otherwise, how will India become a sporting nation and how will we compete to beat China to win 60 Olympic medals?'
World No 8 Sen zoomed to an early 5-1 lead before dashing to 11-3 at the mid-game break. He kept moving ahead as Prannoy's game crumbled.
Don't do any strange things in preparation ahead of Olympics, Gopichand's advise to shuttlers
No Indians featured in the women's doubles and mixed doubles rankings.
Treesa committed a few errors but the Indian duo still managed to keep its nose ahead, despite the fighting Taiwanese pair.
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 double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu cruised into the quarterfinals of the French Open badminton tournament with a straight-game win over Line Christophersen of Denmark in the women's singles second round in Paris. Sindhu, seeded third, prevailed 21-19, 21-9 over Christophersen, ranked 24th in the world, in 37 minutes late Thursday night.
Round up of all the Ranji Trophy action on Thursday
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.
Chirag and Satwik had a successful 2019, when the duo won a maiden Super 500 title at Thailand Open and then reached the finals of the French Open Super 750 event. Their consistent show was rewarded with a world No. 10 spot.
Lakshya Sen progressed to the quarter-finals of the China Masters Super 750 badminton tournament with a straight-games win, but two-time Olympics medallist PV Sindhu's campaign ended in the second round in Shenzhen, China, on Thursday.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down fighting to Olympic champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lan of Chinese Taipei at the Japan Open.
Earlier in the day, the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanshia Crasto squandered an early lead to go down 21-18, 15-21, 19-21 against Malaysia's Pang Ron Hoo and Su Yin Cheng in the second round.
The Indian badminton team returned empty-handed from the Olympics for the first time in over a decade.
Rising player Lakshya Sen went down to Denmark's Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus
In the women's doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand won 21-18, 21-19 against the Dutch duo of Debora Jille and Cheryl Seinen. Treesa and Gayatri face Chinese Taipei's Hsu Ya Ching and Lin Wan Ching in the quarter-finals.
PV Sindhu advanced to the quarterfinals of Badminton Asia Championships
India had won the mixed team gold at 2018 CWG for the first time and Chirag feels they can repeat the performance this year too.
In what was India's first-ever appearance in the tournament finale, they defeated the record 14-time champions Indonesia 3-0 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand to lift the Thomas Cup 2022 title.
The Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty's glorious run at the French Open Super 750 badminton ended tamely after they were beaten by top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia 18-21, 16-21 in the final, in Paris, on Sunday.
The core of the team remains the same with HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in good form and the Indian team would hope the rub of the green also goes their way when it begins campaign on Thursday.
Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty claimed India's first ever medal in men's doubles after settling for a silver at the 21st Commonwealth Games' badminton competition, in Gold Coast, on Sunday.
Sports Ministry confirms Satwik, Chirag for Khel Ratna, Shami and 25 others for Arjuna award
London 2012 Bronze medalist Saina Nehwal believes PV Sindhu can rediscover her winning form in time for the Paris Games
Satwik said the losses had not dampened the pair's spirits but made them more hungry for success in Paris.
Check out how India's athletes fared on Day 6, Thursday, August 1, 2024:
At 17 and 20 respectively, Satwik and Chirag form a formidable pair that has proved its mettle in international badminton, often punching above their weight, only to fall short of podium finishes.
India's HS Prannoy showed nerves of steel, advancing to his third successive quarterfinals at the World Championships.
A look at India's schedule at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, July 27, 2024:
India's fancied shuttlers didn't break a sweat on way to completing a 5-0 sweep of Pakistan in their mixed team campaign opener at the 22nd Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Friday.
The men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their impressive run, progressing to the semi-finals with another stunning victory, but it was curtains for Saina Nehwal at the US $700,000 French Open, in Paris, on Friday.
Indian women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri and Gayatri Gopichand also improved two spots to the 17th position.
Lee, 2019 Hong Kong open winner, had finished as runner-up in the last edition and his dream of winning the title remained unfulfilled after he went down in the final for the second time in two years.
Lakshya Sen moved a place to world number 17, despite not competing in the last two weeks.
HS Prannoy climbed up two spots to achieve a career-best world number seven
Indian badminton team created history on Sunday as they lifted the Thomas Cup trophy for the very first time.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances