Indian shuttler Rounak Chouhan successfully navigated the qualifying rounds of the Taipei Open Super 300, securing his spot in the men's singles main draw with two impressive victories. However, it was a challenging day for most other Indian participants across various categories, who faced defeats in their respective qualifying and opening matches. HS Prannoy and Unnati Hooda are set to lead the Indian contingent in the main draw.
India's Isharani Baruah upset second seed Sung Shuo Yun of South Korea to enter the women's singles quarterfinals of the Thailand Masters badminton event, Bangkok, on Thursday.
Kidambi Srikanth staved off a spirited challenge from compatriot and 2023 National champion Mithun Manjunath in a pulsating semi-final clash to enter the semi-finals.
Tanvi, Unnati, Srikanth reach semifinals of Syed Modi International
Rajasthan's Sanskar Saraswat clinched his maiden Super 100 title after eking out a three-game victory over fellow Indian Mithun Manjunath in the men's singles final of the Guwahati Masters in Guwahati on Sunday.
Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth opened his campaign at the Thailand Masters badminton tournament with a straight game win over Chinese Taipei's Wang Tzu Wei in Bangkok on Wednesday.
Tanvi Sharma stuns Okuhara, Manraj Singh oust Prannoy to make quarters.
Indian Mithun Manjunath stunned fourth seed and world number seven Kean Yew Loh of Singapore in the opening round while PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth secured straight-game wins.
Among other Indians in men's singles, S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian defeated Malaysia's June Wei Cheam 15-21, 21-15, 21-19 in a tough three-game contest. He will next be up against Indonesia's Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo.
Indian women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri and Gayatri Gopichand also improved two spots to the 17th position.
The 30-minute duel had some exciting moments as the two players fought hard for supremacy with Sindhu conceding a 4-2 lead to Zhang, who could only manage a one-point advantage at the break.
The selectors had also proposed to pick one pair each for men's and women's doubles and two mixed doubles combinations through a round-robin tournament format to decide the final standings.
In the upcoming German Open, Lakshya Sen will spearhead India's challenge at the Super 300 tournament.
Lakshya Sen suffered a stunning first round exit as India's challenge came to an end in the German Open.
In mixed doubles, the husband-wife Indian pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy defeated Malaysia's Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien 21-17, 21-19.
Satwik and Chirag jumped one spot in the latest BWF rankings to regain the fifth place.
HS Prannoy and PV Sindhu marched into the pre-quarterfinals of the Swiss Open Super 300 badminton tournament in Basel.
Olympic medallist P V Sindhu is also missing in action as she recovers from an injury.
Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat stunned top seed Kenta Nishimoto to enter the quarterfinals of the Orleans Masters Super 300 badminton tournament.
Manjunath will play Taipei's Yu Jen, who was lucky to progress after fifth seed Rasmus Gemke retired in the second game after pocketing the first.
Coaching is the toughest job: Saina Nehwal on her future
Karthikeya Gulshan Kumar produced a thrilling performance
B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, however, suffered a 21-23, 21-13, 12-21 loss against Korean pair of Song hyun Cho and Lee Jung Hyun in their mixed doubles opening round.
Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu rallied from a game down to eke out a hard-fought win over Thailand's Supanida Katethong and enter the semi-finals of the Syed Modi International Super 300 tournament, in Lucknow, on Friday.
Sindhu had beaten world number 18 Zhang in the Malaysian Open quarter-finals in May this year but the Chinese avenged that defeat and also made the lifetime win-loss record to 3-2 against the Indian.
Two-time Olympic medallist and fourth seed PV Sindhu made a positive start to her title defence on Wednesday, beating Jenjira Stadelmann of Switzerland 21-9, 21-16 in a lopsided opening round women's singles match.
India thrashed lowly Nepal 3-0 in the quarter-finals to secure a historic medal after 37 years in the men's team badminton event at the Asian Games.
The men's team will next face Hong Kong on Thursday.
Sindhu looked in complete control as she prevailed 21-15, 21-11 over world No. 36 Tan in a 29-minute match.
The world No. 6 Indian duo will next face Danish pair of Jeppe Bay and Lasse Molhede later on Friday.
Lakshya Sen's woeful run continued as he made a first round exit
In the women's section, defending champion Unnati Hooda, national champion Anupama Upadhyaya, Ashmita Chaliha, Imad Farooqui Samiya, Tasnim Mir reached the pre-quarterfinals.
Bansod took just over half an hour to dispatch 16-year-old Tasnim in the pre-quarterfinals
Placed at number 10 in the Race to Guanzhou rankings, Srikanth needed to win the tournament to have any hopes of qualifying for the season-ending World Tour Final in December.
India Open winner Lakshya Sen and Mithun Manjunath gave a good account of themselves.
The 25-year-old Indian, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from injuries, beat Mithun 21-9, 21-15 in just 31 minutes to set up a title clash with Japan's Koki Watanabe on Sunday.
Harshit Aggarwal defeated Mongolia's Batdavaa Munkhbat 21-15, 21-13 to be pitted against Japan's third seed Kodai Naraoka in the third round.
Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu stormed into the second round of the women's singles in the Syed Modi International Super 300 badminton tournament after a dominating victory over compatriot Tanya Hemanth, in Lucknow, on Wednesday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
The top seeded Indian duo, who reached the semi-finals of the season-opening Malaysia Open super 1000, was scheduled to face Chinese Taipei's Su Ching Heng and Ye Hong Wei in the opening round.
