Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu faltered in the deciding game to lose to World No. 8 Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in the women's singles second round of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament in Jakarta on Thursday.
Our current players just need to develop a bit more physically: Saina Nehwal
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty maintained their unbeaten run to storm into the knock-out stage of the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals, beating arch-rivals Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in their final Group B match, in Hangzhou, on Friday.
The event's ambitious Guinness World Record attempt will have scores of participants assembling to create a colossal human image of a bird, adorned entirely in pink.
'I am going to represent India for the third time in the Olympics. I won a Silver medal in 2016 and in 2020, I won a Bronze medal. I hope to change the colour of the medal this year.'
This is Sindhu's third consecutive first round loss.
The Taiwanese shuttler took an hour and 10 minutes to beat the Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
Indian mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto suffered a straight game loss to Hong Kong's fifth-seeded duo of Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet in the quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, on Friday.
'If I want to achieve something -- and my aim is to achieve the Olympic gold -- then I would do anything for it. It means everything to me.'
London 2012 Bronze medalist Saina Nehwal believes PV Sindhu can rediscover her winning form in time for the Paris Games
Tanvi, Unnati and Bhargav Ram-Viswa Tej to lead strong Indian line-up in BWF World Junior Championships
Sindhu's disappointing performances have seen her to slip to 17th in the BWF world rankings, her worst slump in a decade. Her previous highest ranking was 2nd in 2016.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu fought valiantly but was outperformed by sixth seed Han Yue of China in a gruelling pre-quarterfinal of the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo on Thursday.
Indian shuttlers handed tough draws, Lakshya Sen to face world No 1 Shi Yu Qi in opener
'In general, I needed a short break from sports because I had worked extremely hard for the Paralympics. I was happy with my performance, but not winning a medal left me a little disappointed. I channelled my energy into other things... overall, the past year has been wonderful in its own way.'
HS Prannoy battled his way into the semifinal of the men's singles with a thrilling three-game win over Malaysia Lee Zii Jia to assure India a badminton medal
Seventeen-year-old Unnati, champion at the 2022 Odisha Masters and 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters, was no match for world No. 2 and top seed Pornpawee Chochuwong, going down 14-21, 11-21 in just 39 minutes.
Tunjung dominated early using her delectable drops to good use and race to an 11-4 lead at the break. With Sindhu struggling with her strokes, it was all over too soon.
IOA also announced that Sindhu, India's only woman athlete to win back-to-back Olympic medals, will be the flag bearer of the Indian contingent during the opening ceremony on July 26, alongside ace table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal.
India's PV Sindhu fought her heart out before going down narrowly to Thailand's Supanida Katethong in the women's singles quarterfinals of the Madrid Spain Masters Super 300 badminton tournament in Madrid on Friday.
India's lack of bench strength was exposed as they suffered a crushing 1-4 defeat against Denmark in their opening Group D match at the BWF Sudirman Cup Finals.
I will continue, albeit after a small break: PV Sindhu
'In women's singles now, there are a lot of long rallies and long matches, being consistent. I am confident in that now.'
Sindhu made short work of the world number 32, Yi Man 21-12, 21-10
Congratulatory messages pour in for badminton superstar PV Sindhu on winning her second Olympic medal on Sunday.
Given the Indian duo's struggles with fitness and injury over the last few weeks, this was a commendable win.
This is also India's third Olympics medal in badminton - Saina Nehwal had won the bronze at the 2012 London Olympics.
The Indian ace has previously won a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Games and a bronze in the Tokyo edition.
While India have never won the gold at the Asia Mixed Team Championships, they did secure mixed team gold and silver at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022.
Sindhu will face either Spain's three-time world champion Carolina Marin or Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei next.
"She will need to be at her best for next year which will have Asian Games and also the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification, playing about 22 tournaments will be tough, so she is taking extra care,"
A third straight Olympics medal eluded P V Sindhu after a shock exit from the Paris Games following a straight-games defeat to China's world No. 6 He Bingjiao in the women's singles badminton pre-quarter-finals in Paris on Thursday.
PV Sindhu cruised into the women's singles final with a dominating straight-game win over fellow Indian Unnati Hooda in the semis.
'An unforgettable moment meeting Tim Cook on keynote day at Apple Cupertino! Thank you for having me, Tim. It was a pleasure to see the stunning Apple Park and to meet you! I will gladly take you up on the offer to play badminton when you visit India next.'
India's double Olympic medallist superstar PV Sindhu reached the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open Super 1000 tournament in Odense on Thursday after three hard-fought games against her opponent from Thailand.
Sindhu, Lakshya win openers; Sai Praneeth loses in US Open
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy have been handed relatively easy groups for the Paris Games, which begin on July 26.
'A bit sad that missed gold, but they tried hard'
Sindhu beat the Thai 21-23, 21-13, 21-18 after a tough contest.
In women's singles, double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu also dropped one place and is now ranked 16th.
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