Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will spearhead the women's challenge in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games while London Olympics bronze winner Saina Nehwal did not expectedly feature in the squads.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal is placed fourth in the list headed by American tennis legend Serena Williams followed by Maria Sharapova and elder sister Venus.
Sindhu lost 7-21, 24-22, 15-21 to Beiwen Zhang of United States in a match that lasted 56 minutes while World Championships bronze-medallst Sai Praneeth was trailing 9-21, 7-11 when he conceded the match to fifth-seeded Anders Antonsen of Denmark due to an unspecified injury.
Sindhu said she has to watch out for the Chinese players as well since they have been missing from the circuit for some time.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu and National champion Sameer Verma began the new season on a resounding note by winning the women's and men's singles crowns respectively at the USD 120,000 Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Lucknow on Sunday.
Six medals from a 117-strong contingent is not ideal but India had its moments of joy, hope, frustration, and heartache.
Following is India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Wednesday, October 4.
PM Modi says Mithali Raj is inspiration to both men, women cricketers
Ace shuttler PV Sindhu, on Wednesday, said her dream is to become World No 1 and she is trying to reach the numero uno spot.
Satwik-Chirag pair achieves career-best world no. 2 ranking
Shocked at the way Lakshya Sen succumbed to pressure in the men's singles badminton bronze medal play-off at the Paris Olympics, the legendary Prakash Padukone said it's high time players learn to withstand pressure, become accountable and start delivering results after receiving support.
Saina Nehwal's aggression and intensity quite literally wilted P V sindhu as she picked up the women's singles Commonwealth Games gold medal with exhilarating triumph in the final, in Gold Coast, on Sunday.
In a men's singles quarter-final match earlier in the day, Sameer Verma too was shown the door after he suffered a 10-21, 12-21 loss to second seed Shi Yuqi of China.
Indian men's team failed to defend its title after going down fighting 1-3 to China
The 24-year-old from Hyderabad will begin her campaign against China's Li Xuerui, a former Olympic gold medallist and World No 1.
When it boils down to matters of discipline, Pullela Gopichand has no peers with PV Sindhu learning it the hard way since her formative years at the legendary coach's academy.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on the 10th day of the Asian Games tomorrow.
Tennis Grand Slam champions Serena, Osaka and Kerber are top 3 in the famed list
In a bid to keep herself fit for the packed international schedule this year, Indian shuttler P V Sindhu will not be defending her women's singles title at the $120,000 Malaysia Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament to be held at Johor Bahru from March 25-30.
With the straight-game victory, Sindhu became the first Indian to achieve the feat.
Chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand on Monday singled out world number one doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as favourites for an Olympic medal and said two-time medallist PV Sindhu too is on the right path and can deliver once again at the Paris Games.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered the semifinals of the Korea Open Super 500 tournament with a straight game win.
Lakshya Sen, who won both his matches to play his part in the silver medal-winning effort in men's team event, too dropped one spot to world number 15. Kidambi Srikanth gained a spot to 20th.
Former World No 1 Saina, the London Olympics bronze medallist, lost 14-21, 21-17, 17-21 to World No 2 Yamaguchi in a 50-minute women's singles clash.
Indian pair toiled hard for one hour and 15 minutes to beat their world No 6 Malaysian opponents 18-21, 24-22, 22-20
World number one Saina Nehwal disposed off Nichaon Jindapon's challenge in straight games, but PV Sindhu crashed out of the Indonesian Open Super Series badminton tournament after a close first-round defeat, in Jakarta, on Wednesday. In the men's singles, both the Indians in the fray -- Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth -- advanced to the second round with contrasting victories.
In the men's draw, HS Prannoy, went down to giant-killer Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.
Two-time bronze medallist, P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth started their campaign at the World Badminton Champion with contrasting victories in the women's and men's singles competition respectively in Jakarta.
PV Sindhu fought back in the 2nd game to down compatriot Saina Nehwal 21-16, 22-20 and book a berth in the Yonex-Sunrise India Super Series badminton tournament at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi on Friday.
'Her defence was the one only problem. (Carolina) Marin and Pornpawee (Chochuwong) are good attacking players, they were using a lot of half smash and straight smash, and when Sindhu's defence goes down on a day, it affects her other skills as well, she gets nervous. But now she has improved a lot in her defence as well. Her endurance on the court is also good.'
Sindhu went down 15-21, 16-21 to the fourth seed
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.
They shut up the naysers with sheer success.
A profligate P V Sindhu was, on Wednesday, knocked out of the All England Championship by an industrious Sung Ji Hyun of Korea in the women's singles opening round in Birmingham.
Pullela Gopichand, India's chief badminton coach, shares his views on the country's leading female players with Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com.
PV Sindhu appears 'vulnerable' on the counter-attack and that is a big factor in her losing many a title clashes, including recent loss to Saina Nehwal in the singles final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, observed former India coach Vimal Kumar.
Sindhu suffered a shock defeat to lower-ranked Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei
India's badminton ace P V Sindhu said national coaches need to be more qualified in order to groom more players to become champions in the future.
As Kidambi Srikanth lost his second round match, India's campaign ended at the Singapore Open.
Set to return to the international circuit at Denmark Open, India ace shuttler P V Sindhu, on Friday, said winning the silver medal at Rio Olympics has given her a lot of confidence and she would look to play without any pressure in the upcoming events.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances