It is first final of the 2019 season for Rankireddy and Shetty, the men's doubles silver medallist at 2018 Commonwealth Games.
India's Vinesh Phogat had to be contend with a silver medal in the Asian Wrestling Championship after losing 2-3 to China's a Chun Lei in the summit clash of the women's 50kg freestyle event in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Rathore said the government was 'leaving no stone unturned' to train 200 elite athletes for the 2020 Olympics
If Saina manages to go past Okuhara, the Indian might run into fourth seed Carolina Marin, who is placed in her half of the draw.
Seasoned shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa is impressed with the progress made by India's doubles players on the Pro circuit but says they will take some time to develop into world beaters.
Commonwealth Games champion P Kashyap advanced to the main draw of the men's singles competition of Japan Super Series after registering twin victories in the two rounds of the qualifiers in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Tokyo should remain the benchmark and source of inspiration till at least Paris 2024. In the shorter run, India's preparations for the Asian and Commonwealth Games next year must begin based on lessons learnt now, asserts Raj Kishore Mishra, former joint secretary at the sports ministry.
H S Prannoy lost in the opening round even as compatriots Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu entered the second round of the $ 350,000 India Open Super 500 tournament, in New Delhi on Wednesday.
It turned out to be a disastrous day for Indian shuttlers at the Hong Kong Open as P V Sindhu, K Srikanth and Ajay Jayaram crashed out of the $ 350,000 Super Series event in the opening round, in Hong Kong, on Wednesday.
Top shuttlers, including Parupalli Kashyap and H S Prannoy, are waiting for their passports to fly out of the country.
Pakistan's cricket authorities are making strong attempts to invite a Commonwealth XI side this year in a bid to revive international cricket in the country.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Devine, who was the top run-getter for New Zealand at this year's ICC Women's T20 World Cup, feels introduction of a smaller ball could change the dynamics of the women's game.
Explosive all-rounder Ben Stokes and relentless run accumulator Steve Smith could not be more different in their approaches to the game but both roared back from personally adversity to bestride an extraordinary cricketing year. Virat Kohli and his men top the confused and confusing World Test Championship table with seven wins in as many matches, including their first pink-ball Test against Bangladesh last month. That victory marked their 12th consecutive Test series win at home.
Laurel Hubbard withdrew midway through the Commonwealth Games tournament
Top shuttlers Ashwini Ponnappa and Lakshya Sen are among 20-odd Indian players who have started training at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) in Bengaluru as the sport took its first step towards resumption after the COVID-19 hiatus. Confined to their homes for more than two months due to the nationwide lockdown to contain the health crisis, the shuttlers started training at PPBA after the Sports Authority of India (SAI) laid down rules for resumption of training late last month.
Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap advanced to the quarter-finals of the Singapore Open, but it was H S Prannoy, who hogged the limelight on Thursday with a straight games demolition of world No. 2 Jan O Jorgensen in the men's singles.
In this series, we bring you your weekly shot of wisdom from super achievers.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
India shuttler Kidambi Srikanth believes the days of domination of Lin Dan or Lee Chong Wei are over and the tournaments are more wide open than ever.
With the Omicron variant of coronavirus slowly spreading its tentacles in the country, a number of states enhanced surveillance to trace, track and quarantine contacts of COVID-19 positive persons while Delhi began genome sequencing of samples of all infected people and has prohibited Christmas and New Year gatherings.
Gupta, 56, was a Rajya Sabha member and was minister for steel in the United Progressive Alliance government.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Saina Nehwal's struggle for form summed up a disappointing year for Indian Badminton, the rare high point of which was Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa's World Championships bronze medal.
Parupalli Kashyap's impressive run at the Korea Open Super 500 tournament came to an end after he lost to World number 1 Kento Momota of Japan in the men's singles semi-finals.
Star Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the Round of 16 after pulling off contrasting wins in the opening round of the US$ 700,000 Malaysia Open World Tour Super 750 tournament.
It was heartbreak for P V Sindhu at the World Badminton Championships. The Indian shuttler had to settle for a second consecutive bronze medal after succumbing to Carolina Marin of Spain in the semi-finals, in Copenhagen, on Saturday.
In a dramatic turn of events, Indian shuttler P Kashyap edged past Ajay Jayaram to qualify for the London Olympics after Chen Jin of China gave him a walkover in the quarter-finals of the Indian Open Super Series because of a wrist injury, in New Delhi on Friday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal sailed into the Korea Open Super Series quarter-finals after notching up a straight games victory over Shao Chieh Cheng of Chinese Taipei in the second round.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Saina Nehwal crossed the first hurdle comfortably but highlight of the day for the Indians came when Ajay Jayaram registered a stunning victory over world number seven Tien Minh Nguyen to sent him crashing out of Japan Super Series in straight-games in Tokyo.
Indian men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy stunned Olympic silver medallists Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia to enter the quarterfinals of the $ 700,000 Japan Open badminton tournament, in Tokyo, Wednesday.
Saina Nehwal, who has been struggling to replicate her superb run of 2010 when she won three Super Series women's singles crowns as well as the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, seems fractionally slower on her feet this year, feels former badminton ace PrakashPadukone.
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.
Top doubles shuttler Jwala Gutta, who missed the Incheon Asian Games due to an injury, has said that keeping herself fit would be crucial for her to prepare well for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
As the longest serving woman chief minister who ruled the city state for three consecutive terms from 1998 to 2013, Dikshit ushered in an era of all-round development that transformed Delhi into a world class capital.
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal played her heart out but went down to Xuerui Li of China 18-21, 29-30 at the French Open Super Series in Paris on Thursday.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal started her campaign at the French Open Super Series on a positive note, thrashing Jie Yao of Holland in straight-games to reach the second round of the women's singles event at Paris on Wednesday.
Defending champion Ajay Jayaram and Commonwealth bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Dutch Open Grand Prix after notching up srRound.
The Commonwealth Games' gold medal-winning pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa went down fighting in the Indian Open Super Series badminton at the Siri Fort Complex, in New Delhi, on Thursday. The eighth seeded Indian duo lost 20-22, 18-21 to Eei Hui Chin and Pei Tty Wong of Malaysia.