India's women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa crashed out of the Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold on Thursday after suffering a straight-game defeat against the Malaysian pair of Hui Ern Ng and Hui Lin Ng in the second round in Saarbrucken, Germany.
Ashwini Ponnappa, who will partner Jwala Gutta in the women's doubles at the Olympics, is confident of peaking in time and doing well at the mega event.
In what would come as some relief for embattled shuttler Jwala Gutta, who is facing a life ban for alleged disciplinary breach, Sports Minister Jitendra Singh said he can look into her dispute with the Badminton Association of India if she approaches him.
India's top squash player Dipika Pallikal has joined the 'male chauvinism' chorus started by tennis star Sania Mirza, and said that it has always existed in sports.
It was a memorable day for the Indian badminton as Chetan Anand became the first Indian to win men's singles title in a Grand Prix event and the pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta claimed the honours in the mixed doubles event in the Bitburger Open 2008 in Germany on Sunday. Fourth seed Chetan beat compatriot seventh seed Arvind Bhat 23-25, 24-22, 23-21 in an all Indian battle in the final, lasting exactly one hour.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal moved one place up to occupy the fifth spot while P V Sindhu remained unchanged at 10th in the latest Badminton World Federation Rankings issued on Thursday. Saina, who clinched her second Australian Open title earlier this month, exchanged places with Japan's Nozomi Okuhara, who now occupies the sixth spot in the women's singles list headed by Spain's Carolina Marin.
Jwala Gutta launched a verbal tirade against the Badminton Association of India on Friday, saying the decision to recommend a life ban on her has only made it a laughing stock.
Badminton stars Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap continued their wedding celebrations with a post-wedding cocktail party in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Fresh from her triumphant exploits with senior partner Jwala Gutta in the Canadian Open, shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa said the ace Indian doubles pair was now aiming to break into the top ten while qualifying for next year's Rio Olympic Games.
Wrestler Babita Phogat congratulated the Hyderabad police department for what they did, saying that it will make every woman in the country really proud.
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.
Ecstatic after winning the Canada Open women's doubles title with Jwala Gutta, Indian shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa has said consistency has been the key to their success and this victory is a big boost ahead of the prestigious World Championship in August.
'Indian consciousness was raped in Unnao and then in Kathua'
Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap and young H S Prannoy registered contrasting wins in the men's singles to enter the second round of the Singapore Open Super Series badminton tournament.
BAI has confirmed the services of Tan Kim, who will be joining the Indian team by the end of September to work with the top doubles players.
Padukone said it's high time that players learn to withstand pressure, take responsibility, and deliver results after receiving significant support from the government.
Jwala says Sindhu should scan through all the videos of her past matches and work on her strategy.
It was a day of mixed fortunes for India's badminton players at the $120,000 US Open Grand Prix Gold tournament as Sai Praneeth sneaked into the quarter-finals after a hard-earned victory while compatriots Ajay Jayaram and R M V Gurusaidutt lost their respective men's singles matches.
Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin has separated from his wife of 14 years Sangeeta Bijlani, the Mid-Day newspaper from Mumbai reported on Friday.
Singles stars Saina Nehwal and P Kashyap recorded victories but that was not enough to save India from defeat as it lost 2-3 to Chinese Taipei in the Sudirman Cup mixed team badminton competition in Qingdao, China, on Sunday.
- 'We need the government to support us with funds' - 'If government does not fund, lot of players will be lost. We are really depending on the government' - 'Before Olympics, any tournament we play and win is great. But, the ultimate goal is Olympics'
As a successful but physically draining year draws to a close, one half of Indian badminton's most formidable mixed doubles pair, Jwala Gutta, is now aiming for a Super Series title in the new season to ensure a good build-up to the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi next year.
Ace shuttler Jwala Gutta suffered twin defeats in mixed doubles and women's doubles categories to crash out as India's challenge ended in the Hong Kong Super Series badminton tournament in Hong Kong on Thursday.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal has jumped one place to the eighth spot, while a place in the finals of the Indian Open Super Series catapulted the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju to the elite top 10 bracket.
Chetan Anand and the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju eased into the second round of the Denmark Open, even as compatriots Arvind Bhatt and Aditi Mutatkar crashed out of the Super Series event. In the men's singles category, National champion Anand beat Stefan Wojcikiewicz of Canada 21-6, 21-15, while Gutta and Diju prevailed over the Indonesian pair of Endang Nursugianti and Anggun Nugroho 21-15, 21-12 in the mixed doubles.
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa suffered a loss in the second round, going down fighting 23-21, 8-21, 17-21 to sixth seeded Indonesian pair of Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii.
Images from day six of the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, on Thursday.
Top Indian shuttlers, including K Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap in men's singles and P V Sindhu in women's singles, advanced to the second round after easy victories on the first day of the main draw in the Syed Modi International Badminton tournament, in Lucknow, on Wednesday.
Indian athletes will be in action in various disciplines at the 2012 Olympics on Saturday. Check out their time schedule.
Threatened with a ban by the administrators and labelled enfant terrible by her detractors, ace shuttler Jwala Gutta says such has been the 'hurt and pain' of the last six months that she hasn't been able to celebrate her bronze medal success at the recent Asian Badminton Championships to the fullest.
It was a mixed night for the Indian badminton team at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as India's big hope P V Sindhu suffered a three-game loss against Michelle Li in the women's singles but the Indian team still managed to advance to the semi-finals of the mixed team championship after defeating Canada 3-1.
The Jwala Gutta-led Krrish Delhi Smashers will lock horns with Ashwini Ponnappa's Pune Pistons in the tournament opener of the inaugural Indian Badminton League, which kicks off in Delhi on Tuesday.
Ace shuttler Ashwini Ponappa is still in disbelief over her early exit from the Olympics and criticised the new round-robin format which according to her encouraged 'match-fixing' at the London Games.
India coach Pullella Gopichand on Wednesday accused Japanese badminton pair Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa of "wanting to lose" their group match after his women's doubles team Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa failed to qualify for the knockout stage in Group B amid allegations of match-throwing, at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Indian athletes will be in action in various disciplines at the 2012 Olympics on Monday. Check out their time schedule.
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.
Andhra Pradesh's shuttlers dominated the National Games badminton competition, winning the gold medal in the men and women's singles, women's doubles and team championship.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal came from behind to notch a hard-fought victory over Juan Gu of Singapore in a first round match at the Malaysian Open Super Series, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday. The fourth seed won 19-21, 21-14, 21-15, in 56 minutes.
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.
Saina Nehwal suffered a shock defeat to Inthanon Ratchanok, but a determined India rode on P Kashyap and the pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa's stunning victories to enter the quarter-finals of the Sudirman Cup, after a 3-2 victory over Thailand in the second match of Group C in Qingdao, China, on Monday.