Two-time Olympics medallist P V Sindhu opted out citing post-Olympics recovery.
Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy said the mentality of not giving up without a fight kept him motivated during the epic victory over Denmark in the Thomas Cup semi-finals on Friday.
Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth will meet compatriot HS Prannoy in his opening match, while former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap will square off against a qualifier.
With the coronavirus pandemic halting all sport activities, India's former chief badminton coach Vimal Kumar on Tuesday urged the government to allow the Olympic-bound athletes to continue their training after conducting the required tests. Following the respective directives of the Talengana and Karnataka governments, the Pullela Gopichand academy in Hyderbad and Prakash Padukone Academy in Bangalore have been shut down for two weeks.
If Sindhu and Saina win their respective second round matches, they will face each other in the quarter-finals.
Three-time champion Saina Nehwal registered a 21-18, 21-15 win against PV Sindhu, a two-time winner, in the summit clash.
Coach Vimal Kumar compared this triumph to India's 1983 Cricket World Cup win, hoping it will spur the popularity of badminton.
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.
The Birmingham showpiece will be held from July 28 to August 8.
Srikanth, now ranked five, was placed seventh before the Malaysia Open, where he lost his last-four clash to the reigning Asian champion Kento Momota.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu's gallant fight ended in agony as India made a dismal start to their Sudirman Cup campaign, going down to the formidable Chinese Taipei in the opening round in Suzhou on Sunday.
This spin serve has proved to be a handful for the opposition players, who have struggled to send it back as the shuttle twists and falls across the net.
Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu stayed on course for an elusive gold medal, while Laskhya Sen entered his maiden final at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Sunday.
Lakshya Sen recorded another comfortable win but double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth had to work hard to enter the semi-finals
India have been drawn with top seeds and defending champions China, Thailand and hosts Finland for the upcoming Sudirman Cup badminton tournament, making it a tough Group A for the side to negotiate.
Sindhu beat fourth seeded Blichfeldt 22-20, 21-10 in 43 minutes
The Indian women's badminton team crashed out of the Uber Cup after losing to Japan in the quarter-finals in Aarhus, Denmark on Thursday while the men completed their group engagements in the Thomas Cup with a defeat to China.
Rio Olympic silver medallist Sindhu, who made early exits at the China Open and Korea Open, dropped to the 6th spot after five months and the former World No 2 shuttler will look to make amends at the Denmark Open and French Open.
Srikanth lost to Ireland's unseeded player Nguyen Nhat 11-21, 21-15, 12-21
Deepika and Atanu form the mixed team and they kickstarted their training
The win ensured Srikanth's dominance over his younger countrymate as he took his head-to-head record to 3-0 over Lakshya.
Kidambi Srikanth rallied his way to a thrilling win in a tense decider as India kept alive their hopes of winning a first-ever gold medal at the Asian Games.
BAI General Secretary Ajay Singhania said that BAI is in receipt of the letter from the shuttler.
Denmark's 2017 World Champion Viktor Axelsen and home favourite Okuhara Nozomi, who won bronze at Rio 2016, are also among the star names.
A look at how India's athletes fared at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday.
Srikanth fought hard for 55 minutes against second seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei
The top Indian players, including Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Srikanth have failed to lift the prestigious trophy
'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.'
Returning to action after a break, double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu saw off Turkey's Neslihan Yigit in straight games to join compatriots Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma in the second round of the Denmark Open in Odense on Tuesday.
The Badminton Association of India are hoping to finalise the duo's appointments by the end of this month.
Sen, who had emulated his mentor Prakash Padukone by winning the World championship bronze in Huelva, Spain last month, will now look to claim the All England Championships in March.
India's shuttlers, including London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, expressed shock after reports emerged that a sparring partner of the Taiwanese national team, who was in Birmingham during the All England Championship, tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Olympic silver medallist will now face Korea's An Se Young next.
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.
Sindhu ended a rally with a forehand smash on Goh's left to make it 21-20 before the Malaysian netted a return.
Amazon Prime Video has announced 69 assorted Web series and movies, and the slate sure looks interesting.
India's Saina Nehwal on Saturday crashed out of the Orleans Masters after losing in the semi-final against Denmark's Line Christophersen, in Paris on Saturday.
Double Olympic medallist, Sindhu faces top seed and World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals. Ying beat Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour 21-10, 19-21, 21-11 to advance.
Satwik and his doubles partner Chirag Shetty, who had claimed the Commonwealth Games silver in 2018 and won the Thailand Open Super 500 last year, were recommended for the Arjuna Award jointly.
Modi on Saturday hosted the Indian contingent at his residence to felicitate the players in New Delhi.
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