PV Sindhu's gallant effort to become India's first ever World Champion ended in a heart-wrenching defeat against Nozomi Okuhara in an epic final, in Glasgow, on Sunday.
The Rio Olympic silver-medallist knocked out defending champion Nozomi Okuharabeat 21-17, 21-19 to advance.
Saina, who had won a silver medal two years ago at Jakarta, gave everything in a battle of attrition but Okuhara's never-say-die attitude helped her to outmanoeuvre the Indian in an energy-sapping sem-ifinal clash at the Emirates Arena.
Sindhu hardly had to break a sweat as she posted a comfortable 21-14 21-7 win over the third seeded Japanese shuttler in just 44 minutes.
The match comes on the heels of one of the biggest upsets in badminton history on Wednesday night, when men's singles world number one Kento Momota's Olympic dreams were crushed by number 38 South Korea's Heo Kwang-hee.
P V Sindhu suffered a straight-game loss to world champion Nozomi Okuhara to crash out but Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy advanced to the quarterfinals of the $ 325,000 Japan Open Super Series, in Tokyo, on Thursday.
Lack of adequate time to recover after a late night match affected Saina Nehwal's performance in the semi-finals, feels her coach Vimal Kumar, who called for perfect scheduling of matches in big ticket events such as World Championship and Olympics.
It is Sindhu's second semifinal of the season, following a last-four finish at the India Open last month.
Saina Nehwal produced a fine performance to kick-off her BWF World Championships campaign with a straight game win over Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi.
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.
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.
Watch Sindhu putting in hard work for the coveted gold medal here!
Defending champion Saina Nehwal sailed into the semi-finals of the US $700,000 China Open Super Series Premier after a straight games' victory over Japan's Nozomi Okuhara, at the Haixia Olympic Sports Centre, in Fuzhou, on Friday.
India's P V Sindhu hopes no one will ever question her ability to win big titles, relieved at breaking the finals jinx with a historic triumph at the World Tour Finals in Guangzhou.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu says losing close matches from advantageous position dealt a blow to her confidence and she is looking to overcome it by working on the mental aspect of her game.
Indian badminton's golden girl P V Sindhu continued her golden run as she triumphed at the Korea Open on Sunday.
India's badminton queen PV Sindhu revealed that working with new coach Kim Ji Hyun along with the guidance from Pullela Gopichand has been instrumental in taking her game to the next level.
Srikanth showed great determination to outwit Korea's World No 25 Lee Dong Keun 12-21, 21-16, 21-18 in a second-round clash that clocked an hour and 13 minutes. The Indian had lost twice to the 27-year-old Korean in the past two meetings.
India's top players, including P V Sindhu, may not be going through the best of times, but national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand is still hopeful of a best-ever Olympics outing in Tokyo. Gopichand has produced two Olympic medallists -- Saina Nehwal (bronze in 2012) and Sindhu (silver in 2016).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, on Sunday, congratulated star India shuttler P V Sindhu for winning the Korea Open Super Series title in Seoul.
Denmark's 2017 World Champion Viktor Axelsen and home favourite Okuhara Nozomi, who won bronze at Rio 2016, are also among the star names.
India's PV Sindhu scripted history by becoming the first Indian shuttler to reach the final at the Olympics when she shocked Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in straight games in the women's singles at the Rio Games on Thursday.
The Rio Olympics gold medallist had withdrawn from the All England Championships this year after suffering the injury during the Swiss Open.
Pusarla Sindhu sent Indian fans into a frenzy by blasting through Japan's Nozomi Okuhara to reach the gold medal decider for the women's singles at the Olympic badminton on Thursday.
P V Sindhu on Sunday said the heart-breaking World Championship final loss was not on her mind when she was plotting the downfall of Japan's Nozomi Okuhara en-route to her Korea Open title in Seoul.
Join us in congratulating Sindhu on her historic achievement.
With her silver from Rio, PV Sindhu is already India's most successful female Olympian but her World Championship triumph also boosted the nation's hopes of a medal in Tokyo next year.
India's leading shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the second round of the French Open with straight-game wins, but it was curtains for Sameer Verma at the US $750,000 BWF event, in Paris, on Wednesday.
As the Indian national anthem reverberated across the St Jakobshalle stadium, Sindhu stood at the podium with moist eyes.
On March 11, the government issued a revised travel advisory, cancelling all visas till April 15 and making it clear that Indian nationals returning to the country from affected countries would be quarantined for 14 days. England is among the most-affected by coronavirus outbreak. P V Sindhu was given the choice of pulling out of All England Championships after the Indian government's travel restrictions came into force but the Olympic silver-medallist decided to play on
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal says the Glasgow World Championship made her realise that she needs to work harder on her stamina and beat tougher players to regain her place among badminton's top-10.
World No. 1 Saina Nehwal started her campaign with a hard-fought win, while P V Sindhu eased past her opponent at the $200,000 Badminton Asia Championship.
Indian women's team had won a bronze medal at Incheon four years ago and Sindhu hoped they can change the colour of the medal this time when the multi-sport event gets underway on August 18.
'I want to take Durga Maa's blessings and achieve a lot more'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in hailing PV Sindhu's awe-inspiring performance at the World Championship, where she ended a silver-medallist after losing a breathtaking final.
Kim Ji Hyun was handed the responsibility to sharpen the skills of former World No. 2 PV Sindhu with the World Championships and Olympics in mind.
Ace Indian shuttlers, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, had a disappointing start to their campaign at the BWF Super Series Finals as they suffered straight-game defeats on the opening day of the prestigious event in Dubai.
Winning an elusive Olympic gold in Tokyo next year is PV Sindhu's top priority but reigning world champion's immediate target is to do well in the coming tournaments as this is the qualifying year for the quadrennial extravaganza.
Saina Nehwal breezed into the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open, scoring a 21-15, 21-17 victory over Japan's world No. 2-ramked Akane Yamaguchi on Thursday.
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.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances