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.
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.
India has never had so many highly-ranked shuttlers.
Saina Nehwal staged a scintillating comeback to beat reigning world champion Carolina Marin and retain the women's singles title at the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament.
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.
HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma and Sourabh Verma are the men's singles players who have decided to withdraw while doubles specialists Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy have also opted out. Leading Indian women's singles players PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal - both previous Olympic medallists - are making the trip to England, as are their male counterparts Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth.
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu cleared first round hurdles in the women's singles with contrasting victories at the Denmark Open Super Series Badminton Premier, in Odense, on Wednesday. In the men's singles, Parupalli Kashyap cruised into the second round, beating Rajiv Ouseph of England 21-15, 21-18.
The Indian men's team beat a depleted China 3-2 at the Badminton Asia Team Championships at the Gachibowli indoor stadium in Hyderabad
'If we have one dedicated coach to train 50-100 coaches who can go back and coach their wards, that will be a very good move'
The London Olympic bronze medallist will face either Denmark's Line Christophersen or compatriot Ira Sharma for a place in the finals at the Super 100 event, which is a part of BWF's revised Olympic qualification events.
Rising player Lakshya Sen went down to Denmark's Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus
The Indian team may not have won medals but the youngsters have won the hearts of everyone, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on the FIFA Under- 17 World Cup during his monthly radio programme.
Sindhu had resumed training last month under the supervision of Korean coach Park Tae-Sang after the Sports Authority of India
Indian shuttler HS Prannoy stunned reigning Olympic champion Lin Dan of China while Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap also crossed the opening hurdle to enter the second round of the USD 275,000 French Open Super Series.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Prannoy signs off with maiden World Championships bronze medal after losing semifinal to Vitidsarn
Besides the duo, 2017 World Weightlifting Champion in the 48kg category, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and former Asian Games gold medallist tennis player Somdev Devvarman were conferred with the Padma Shri award.
The 28-year-old from Kerala had spent two weeks stressing over his physical and mental health after contracting COVID-19 last November.
'I think Sindhu could have won. We had our chances in women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles yesterday and they could have pulled through. I think Kashyap also has had a good run. He has had a good tournament. Considering what has happened in the last year with him, it has been a good comeback'
'The Indian badminton team has scripted history'
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.
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.
Eight seeded Saina defetaed Okuhara 21-15, 21-14 late last night to improve her head-to-head record to 6-1 against her Japanese opponent.
Looking back, the Indians had rubbed their hands in delight at the variety of marquee events at home the sporting calendar of 2017 offered, and they now look forward, with optimism and anticipation, to a challenging 2018.
The London Olympics bronze medallist displaced Spain's Carolina Marin, who defeated her in the women's final of the World Championships in Jakarta last Sunday.
Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty claimed India's first ever medal in men's doubles after settling for a silver at the 21st Commonwealth Games' badminton competition, in Gold Coast, on Sunday.
India's shuttlers suffered a mild hiccup before making it to the Mixed Team badminton final at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday. After an easy passage to the semi-finals, they were checked in their stride by Singapore before winning the first semi-final 3-1.
Top shuttler B Sai Praneeth and doubles player Dhruv Rawat have already pulled out after testing positive in the pre-departure testing.
A day after unheralded grappler Sakshi Malik opened India's medal count with a dramatic bronze-winning effort, shuttler P V Sindhu is all set to further showcase Indian women's capabilities at the Olympic on Thursday.
Star shuttlers, including P V Sindhu, will chase individual gold medals but doubles would also under the spotlight as India would aim to retain the mixed team title and continue their consistent run at the Commonwealth Games.
India's highest ranked male shutter, Kidambi Srikanth, pulled off an upset victory over former world No 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, but his team Bengaluru Hot Guns went down 2-3 to Hyderabad Hunters in the Premier Badminton League clash in Mumbai on Sunday.
India's No 1 shuttler Saina Nehwal has been seeded fifth and compatriot P V Sindhu ninth in the women's singles at the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In the men's draw, Kidambi Srikanth, who is ranked world No 11, is seeded ninth.
Young Indian shuttler Ashmita Chaliha recorded the first upset of the India Open when she stunned fifth seed Evgeniya Kosetskaya while top seed P V Sindhu sailed into the women's singles second round of the tournament, in Delhi, on Tuesday.
How India's athletes fared on Day 1 of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
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.
Meet first-time Indian athletes hoping to make an impression in Rio.
India continued their impressive run in the Badminton Asia Team Championships, scoring a hard-earned 3-2 victory over former champions Malaysia, in Hyderabad, on Friday.
20-year-old Malvika Bansod, ranked 111th, took 34 minutes to register a straight games victory against former World No 1 Saina Nehwal.
The absence of double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu, London Games bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also hurt India's prospect as the team cut a sorry figure at the team-tournament.
An Indian team which is a nice little blend of youth and experience, will have to punch above its weight in what's going to be an arduous challenge in the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships here on Sunday.
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