While the top names in badminton haven't openly discussed mental health and wellbeing issues in the way that gymnast Simone Biles and tennis player Naomi Osaka have done of late, Olympic expectations nonetheless weigh heavily on some.
After Srikanth was ousted 9-21, 11-21 by reigning world champion Kento Momota of Japan, third seed Sindhu went down fighting 11-21, 21-11, 15-21 to World No. 6 Chen Yufei of China in a hard-fought contest, which lasted 52 minutes.
Indian shuttlers endured a disappointing day at the China Open Super Series Premier with star player Saina Nehwal going down in the women's singles second round while Parupalli Kashyap crashed out of the men's singles competition in Shanghai.
The unseeded Indian beat the 11th seed 21-11, 13-21, 21-7 in a second round match that lasted an hour and two minutes.
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.
Rising player Lakshya Sen went down to Denmark's Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu entered the second round, but it was a disappointing day for India's men as two of them made an early exit from the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton, in Shah Alam, on Wednesday.
Saina Nehwal scripted a remarkable victory over reigning World Champion Carolina Marin to turn around her campaign at the BWF Super Series Finals even as Srikanth faced exit after suffering his second straight loss in the men's singles in Dubai.
Sindhu, who had finished runners-up at the last edition in Dubai, will have a tough task at hand as she has been clubbed with defending champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei and USAs' Beiwen Zhang in Group A.
It was Saina Nehwal's 13th straight defeat against the World No 1 Taiwanese, whom she has not beaten since 2015.
The World No 25 pair of Satwiksairaj and Chirag put a gallant fight in the second game but couldn't stop the two-time All England Champions from Indonesia, going down 12-21, 24-26 in a 42-minute match.
India's top badminton players Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth took a big step on way to reaching the semi-finals at the World Super Series Finals by securing second consecutive wins in their respective group in Dubai.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina beat Tunjung 21-11, 21-12 in a one-sided semifinal match that lasted just 30 minutes.
HS Prannoy becomes the first player to beat Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Victor Axelsen in full a match since March.
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.
India's Lakshya Sen on Thursday progressed to the quarter-finals of the All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham, while HS Prannoy crashed out in the second round.
Srikanth lost to Ireland's unseeded player Nguyen Nhat 11-21, 21-15, 12-21
Two-time silver medallist P V Sindhu produced yet another commanding performance as she demolished Beiwen Zhang of United States in straight games to advance to the quarter-finals of the BWF Badminton World Championships.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal started her campaign on a positive note, advancing to the second round of the women's singles competition but it was curtains for Parupalli Kashyap and K Srikanth in the men's singles category of the All England championship in London.
A summary of sports events and persons in the news over the weekend.
India's top shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth experienced contrasting defeats in the semi-finals of the US $700,000 Malaysia Open Super World Tour 750 tournament, in Kuala Lumpur, on Saturday.
India's campaign at the All England Badminton Championships came to a disappointing end with Saina Nehwal, B Sai Praneeth, Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma all exiting from the tournament in Birmingham on Friday.
The Rio Olympics gold medallist had withdrawn from the All England Championships this year after suffering the injury during the Swiss Open.
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 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.
Parupalli Kashyap continued his impressive run to advance to the semi-finals of the Singapore Open Super Series badminton tournament, even as young H S Prannoy was left ruing his luck as a foot injury forced him to concede his quarter-final, on Friday.
Seasoned Indian ace Saina Nehwal and the fast-rising H S Prannoy notched up contrasting wins in the women's and men's singles competition respectively to reach the All England badminton championships' second round at Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham.
Expectations from the Indian male shuttlers will also be high, given their exploits in recent months.
The prestigious awards recognise the achievements of the elite badminton players
Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap advanced to the second round of the China Super Series Premier after straight-game victories in the women's and men's singles respectively, in Shanghai, on Wednesday.
Sindhu yet again struggled to buck the trend of early exits
PV Sindhu will open her campaign against South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun, while Saina Nehwal takes on Scotland's Kristy Gilmour in the first round.
After six successive losses in 13 meetings, PV Sindhu finally got the better of her nemesis World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying.
In the women's singles match, Sindhu brought some smiles back in the Indian camp after seeing off Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-15, 19-21, 21-13, setting up a clash with Japan's Aya Ohori on the eve of her 23rd birthday on Thursday.
Praneeth said he needs to work on his fitness to trouble big players such as two-time world champion Kento Momota.
It is Sindhu's second semifinal of the season, following a last-four finish at the India Open last month.
Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu continued their winning run at the Malaysia Open notching up contrasting victories to reach the quarter-finals of the women's singles competition at the USD 550,000 Super Series Premier tournament.
In the men's draw, HS Prannoy, went down to giant-killer Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.
P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth continued their impressive run at the Malaysia Open, progressing to the semi-finals of the women's and men's singles competition with a straight-game wins in the US$ 700,000 world tour super 750 tournament, in Kuala Lumpur.
Earlier, the women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy suffered their second successive loss in the event, going down fighting 19-21, 20-22 to Bulgaria's Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva to bow out of contention.
