Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram continued his rampaging run at the Korea Open notching up a sensational straight-game upset victory over world No 7 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei to storm into the finals of the $ 600,000 Super Series event, in Seoul, on Saturday.
The Indian badminton team returned empty-handed from the Olympics for the first time in over a decade.
India's men's singles players Arvind Bhat and RMV Gurusaidutt, on Wednesday, made the main draw of the Hong Kong Super Series after notching up contrasting wins in the qualifiers.
Check out how India's athletes fared on Day 6, Thursday, August 1, 2024:
Saina squandered a game advantage to lose 21-16, 11-21, 14-21 against Takahashi
Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal entered the second round of women's singles with a comfortable victory but P V Sindhu suffered an upset defeat in the opening round to crash out of the US $750,000 Australian Open Super Series badminton tournament in Sydney on Wednesday. In men's singles, India's Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma made the second round with contrasting victories, but it was curtains for qualifier R M V Gurusaidutt as he failed to cross the first round hurdle. Saina, who had won the Australian Open title in 2014, hardly broke a sweat in her opening round game as she outplayed Joy Lai of Australia with a dominating 21-10 21-14 win in just 29 minutes. The seventh seeded Indian will clash with Malaysia's Jin Wei Goh in the second round. However, World No. 10 Sindhu was stunned by South Korea's Kim Hyo Min, ranked 40th in the world, 15-21 19-21 after a 55-minute battle.
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
Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram notched up a stunning three-game victory over higher-ranked Japanese Sho Sasaki to reach the men's singles semifinals of the Korea Open Super Series badminton tournament, in Seoul, on Friday.
Lakshya Sen upset World No 4 Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the round of 32 match at the Malaysia Masters.
India's H S Prannoy faced stiff resistance before prevailing against local hero Daren Liew to advance to the second round of the Malaysia Open, in Kuala Lumpur, on Tuesday.
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.
While Olympic and two-time World Championship silver medallist, Sindhu stamped her authority with a 21-12, 21-15 win over Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the second round, Srikanth got the better off Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto in a three-game match.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu yet again struggled to go past China's He Bingjiao and bowed out of the China Open World Tour Super 750, in Fozhou, on Friday.
A collection of stunning pictures from the Paris 2024 Games
Against the unseeded Tunjung, Sindhu started on a bright note and played aggressively to surge to a 10-5 lead. She used her experience and reach to engage her opponents in long rallies initially.
Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth was pushed to the brink of exit after he suffered his second consecuitve loss in the BWF Super Series Finals, losing in straight games to Denmark's Viktor Axelsen in the men's singles in Dubai.
Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will look to arrest their slump in form when they begin their campaign at the Australia Open badminton tournament in Sydney on Tuesday.
Returning to action after nearly two months, Saina, who made last-minute withdrawals from Indonesia Open and last week's Japan Open because of injuries, got past Chaiwan 21-17, 21-19 in her opening round contest.
Fresh from their Korea Open triumph, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will look to continue their dream run.
India's Saina Nehwal lost to Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying 21-16, 18-21, 21-14 and was knocked out of the BWF World Superseries Final in Dubai on Friday.
Fifth seeded Sindhu, who made early exits from China and Korea last month, has been pitted against Michelle Li, who remains a tricky customer despite the fact that Sindhu has a 5-2 head-to-head record against the world no 9 Canadian.
It is Sindhu's second semifinal of the season, following a last-four finish at the India Open last month.
Taking the Indian challenge forward, P V Sindhu progressed to the women's singles quarter-finals after a tough win over Yu Po Pai in the USD 120,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, in Basel on Thursday. Sindhu overcame the challenge of the Taipei shuttler 21- 16 21-16 in the second round. However, B Sai Parineeth, who had eked out a memorable win over legendary Lee Chong Wei at the All England championship, made an exit from the event after losing 19-21 6-21 to second seed Tien Chen Chou from Taipei in the men's singles pre-quarterfinals.
P V Sindhu and Lakshya Sen sailed into the second round but it was curtains for Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth on a mixed day for India at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament in Paris on Wednesday.
Defending champion P V Sindhu stood just one step away from retaining her title after defeating Thailand's Ratchanok Inthanon in a lop-sided semi-final at the $ 350,000 India Open Super 500 tournament in New Delhi on Saturday.
Sindhu looked in complete control as she prevailed 21-15, 21-11 over world No. 36 Tan in a 29-minute match.
Arvind Bhat continued his impressive run to enter the men's singles quarter-finals of the $120,000 German Open Grand Prix Gold after posting a straight-game victory over Daren Liew of Malaysia in Mulheim an der Ruhr.
Check out how India's athletes fared on Day 7, Friday, August 2, 2024:
HS Prannoy had almost given up on winning his next title and breaking a six-year long drought before chief national coach Pullela Gopichand instilled in him the belief.
HS Prannoy secured his maiden BWF World Tour title
India's HS Prannoy showed nerves of steel, advancing to his third successive quarterfinals at the World Championships.
His backhand blocks and forehand low returns reaped dividends but an alert Gemke managed to grab a four-point cushion at the interval.
Now all eyes are on the two Super 1000 events -- Yonex Thailand Open (January 12-17) and Toyota Thailand Open (January 19-24) as the world's best return to action following a prolonged break.
A fairytale ending eluded him as Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram's rampaging run was brought to a halt by defending champion and World No 1 Chen Long of China in the final of the $ 600,000 Korea Open Super Series event, in Seoul, on Sunday.
'In this year, we had the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Championships and we have been successful (in those) and that was our target for this year. And I'm happy that at the end of the year they (players) are able to maintain their rankings'
Lakshya Sen said the win against reigning All England Champion Li Shi Feng gives him confidence and belief in the Olympic qualification year.
Srikanth exits from Indonesia Open, loses in quarterfinals to Li Shi Feng
India's Kidambi Srikanth played his heart out before going down fighting against two-time defending champion Lin Dan in the quarterfinals of the men's singles badminton event at the Rio Olympics on Wednesday. The 21-year-old from Guntur, who had beaten the five-time World Champion from China in the 2014 China Open final, suffered a 6-21 21-11 21-18 loss against the World No. 3 Chinese in a nerve-wrecking match that lasted for an hour and four minutes.
Olympic medallists P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal made a resounding start to their women's singles campaign but it was Sameer Verma who hogged the limelight with a stunning straight-game win over Korean Son Wan Ho in men's event in the opening round of the India Super Series in New Delhi on Wednesday.