India's top shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will be seen in action for the first time since the coronavirus-forced break when they compete in three upcoming tournaments in Bangkok, including the prestigious BWF World Tour Finals.
The Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament, one of badminton's last two Olympic qualifying events, was on Friday postponed due to a recent COVID-19 surge in the host country, dealing a severe blow to the Tokyo hopes of Indian stars like Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth.
Many believe the Thomas Cup victory can do for badminton what the 1983 World Cup triumph did for cricket in India.
The star Indian pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be the key attraction in the men's doubles category. However, they are set to face a stiff competition as the line-up includes the three-time world champion and world No. 2 Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan alongside another Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, who are currently ranked eighth in the world.
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.
The Indian pair had participated in Super 1000 events in 2018 and 2019 but this is the first time it entered the semi-finals.
A look at Indian athletes' showing at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday, July 27.
Sharath Kamal's progress to the third round of the men's singles in table tennis was the only bright spot on another gloomy day for India at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday.
The Indian mixed badminton team claimed its maiden Commonwealth Games gold medal, thrashing three-time defending champions Malaysia in the final, in Gold Coast.
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.
Sindhu progressed to the quarterfinals with an easy straight-game win over Japan's Aya Ohori
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 finally fetched India its first ever World Championships gold in the sport but spent rest of the year struggling for form.
The script remained the same in the second game as well, with Sindhu maintaining her firm grip over the proceedings to race to a 6-0 lead in just two minutes.
'The Indian badminton team has scripted history'
India's top shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth registered straight-game victories to make impressive starts to their singles campaigns at the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals in Bali on Wednesday.
P V Sindhu's campaign at the Indonesia Open Super 1000 tournament came to an end after she went down to former World champion Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand in a hard-fought women's singles semi-final, in Bali, on Saturday.
P V Sindhu eased into the second round with a straight-game win after fellow Indian Lakshya Sen showed his mettle with a stunning victory over world No. 10 Japanese Kanta Tsuneyama on the opening day of Indonesia Masters Super 750 in Bali on Tuesday.
P V Sindhu stormed into the quarter-finals of the women's singles badminton at the Olympics with an easy 21-15, 21-13 victory over Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt in Tokyo on Thursday.
Sindhu yet again struggled to buck the trend of early exits
The 19-year-old Indian came up with a splendid display but it was not enough to prevent him doing down 17-21, 21-16, 17-21 after 55 minutes.
The 24-year-old from Hyderabad will begin her campaign against China's Li Xuerui, a former Olympic gold medallist and World No 1.
How India's athletes fared on Day 1 of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
India will take on traditional powerhouse China in the final match on Wednesday.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and newly-crowned world No 1 Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the final in women's and men's singles badminton respectively at the 21st Commonwealth Games on Saturday.
Sindhu had resumed training last month under the supervision of Korean coach Park Tae-Sang after the Sports Authority of India
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu is set to fly out of London on Sunday -- she will reach Bangkok via Doha.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, on Saturday, felicitated 2018 Commonwealth Games medallists Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu among others at Pragathi Bhavan.
Prannoy took to Twitter to express his displeasure.
It has emerged now that Prannoy's name was recommended by Gopichand on June 3 in his capacity as a Khel Ratna Award recipient.
India's campaign at the Sudirman Cup came to an end as they went down to Malaysia in the second Group C match.
The Indian women's team went down to Indonesia 1-3 for its second loss in the Badminton Asia Team Championships in, Alor Setar, on Friday.
India's shuttlers, as expected, made a good start at the Commonwealth Games. They proved a class above Sri Lanka in a preliminary round mixed team event match, in Gold Coast, on Thursday. Spearheaded by Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth in singles, India won 5-0.
Chirag said "it is difficult to stay motivated" in such uncertain times.
Sankar's father Subramanian encouraged him to drop out of the schooling system at an early age and pushed him to play in the upper age groups and senior circuits.
The 2021 All England Open will be the second tournament this year to offer ranking points to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, after the Swiss Open.
An Indian team which is a nice little blend of youth and experience, will have to punch above its weight in what's going to be an arduous challenge in the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships here on Sunday.
Prannoy and Sen played five times in 2022 with Sen coming into the match with a slender 3-2 advantage.
Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out in the quarter-finals of the French Open after suffering straight-game defeats in their respective matches as India's campaign ended in the singles events.
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.
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