From China's world number one Shi Yuqi's surprising loss to Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn, to Malaysia's women's doubles team's brave bid for a medal, badminton at the Paris Olympics was characterised by upsets, plucky underdogs and, ultimately, reminders that some top seeds are there for a reason.
Padukone attributed Sindhu and Saina's success to their physical abilities.
Her frequent losses in the finals and the accompanying criticism does not affect ace shuttler PV Sindhu, who, on Saturday, said playing in the summit showdown of a tournament itself is 'a big achievement'.
Lakshya's Paris hopes brighten, enters No.15 in Olympic Games qualification
Seventh seed Sindhu lost 14-21 18-21 to Bing Jiao in the women's singles.
The third seeded Indian will face the winner of the other semi-final, between Japan's Aya Ohori and China's Wang Zhi Yi, on Sunday.
This is the second time in her career, after April 6 this year that Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu has occupied the second spot on the leaderboard.
PV Sindhu advanced to the quarterfinals of Badminton Asia Championships
Chirag and his longtime partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won the men's doubles bronze last week
PV Sindhu will be up against Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong in the badminton singles group stage event.
Satwiksairaj and Ashwini showed top-notch fighting spirit before going down
Indian shuttlers who competed at the Paris Olympics, including PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, are giving the tournament, the year's final BWF Super 1000 event, a miss.
Sindhu and compatriot Saina Nehwal have lost 22 matches between them to Tai.
Rising Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod continued her impressive form this year, pulling off a stunning upset against world No. 23 Sung Shuo Yun of Chinese Taipei to advance to the women's singles pre-quarterfinals of the Arctic Open Super 500 tournament on Tuesday.
Former All England champion Prakash Padukone tipped PV Sindhu to be the world number one in the near future, but Saina Nehwal's coach Vimal Kumar was of the view that both the Olympic medallists could dominate world badminton in the next 5-7 years. While Saina became the first Indian shuttler to win an Olympic medal - a bronze - at 2012 London Olympics, Sindhu did one better by winning a historic silver at the Rio Games this year. "Definitely, Sindhu is capable of reaching the number one place," Padukone told reporters at the Olympic Gold Quest workshop for junior athletes in Bengaluru.
'Sippin' on this coffee brew, trying to shake off my koala-style slumber, and praying it'll give me more kangaroo bounce in my step and improve my smashing skills!!'
India's chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand on Friday admitted that it was tough for him to manage two of his illustrious wards Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu together, saying he could never pick a favourite between the two. Gopichand said he always saw the duo as his kids and felt bitter when Saina left his academy to join Prakash Padukone's academy.
An 'upset' PV Sindhu says a historic gold medal at the World Badminton Championships slipped through her hands in the dying moments of the thrilling final against Nozomi Okuhara.
Olympic medallists Manu Bhaker and Mirabai Chanu have joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative to combat obesity, emphasizing the importance of healthy lifestyle choices.
Indian shuttler PV Sindhu will be seen on the hot seat of popular game show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' (KBC).
Sindhu was made to toil hard by China's He Bing Jiao
Second seed PV Sindhu sailed into the women's singles quarter-finals with a comfortable win over Japan's Aya Ohori in the Hong Kong Open Superseries, in Hong Kong on Thursday.
Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and MC Mary Kom will headline the action for India at the Tokyo Olympic Games on Sunday.
Sindhu won 12-21, 23-21, 21-19 in the women's singles quarter-finals match that lasted 71 minutes.
P V Sindhu, on Tuesday, suffered an injury scare but there is no immediate threat to her participation in the Commonwealth Games starting next month.
P V Sindhu is hoping to become India's first-ever woman Olympic gold medallist across all sporting disciplines when she takes on World champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the final of women's singles badminton event at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, on Friday.
Returning to action after a break, double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu saw off Turkey's Neslihan Yigit in straight games to join compatriots Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma in the second round of the Denmark Open in Odense on Tuesday.
India's rising star P Kashyap and young shuttler PV Sindhu notched up contrasting wins in the men's and women's singles to advance to the semi-finals of the Indian Open Grand Prix badminton tournament in Hyderabad on Friday.
India's sporting fraternity, including Olympic medalists Neeraj Chopra and PV Sindhu, expressed grief and condemnation over the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir.
A foot injury early in the year derailed her plans but ace Indian shuttler P V Sindhu is happy to make a successful comeback with a good performance at the Denmark Super Series Premier and a third successive Macau Grand Prix Gold title.
Prannoy fought back to level at 13-13, but Popov surged ahead as the Indian crumbled.
PV Sindhu jumped two places to grab the ninth spot, while former World No. 1 Saina, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from a serious injury, slipped five places to 11th spot.
Sindhu will play her opening match on Sunday, while B Sai Praneeth and the men's pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be in action on Saturday.
World No. 3 Sindhu thrashed Yamaguchi 21-9, 21-13 in just 36 minutes to top Group A in women's singles at the Sheikh Hamdan Indoor Stadium. This was her last group stage match.
Rio Olympic silver medallist Sindhu, who made early exits at the China Open and Korea Open, dropped to the 6th spot after five months and the former World No 2 shuttler will look to make amends at the Denmark Open and French Open.
Ecstatic after clinching her maiden Super Series Premier title at China Open, Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu said she was left speechless with emotions as she has finally realised a long-time dream.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal sailed into the second round of Malaysia Open after a straight games victory over Singapore's Gu Juan in the women's singles, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday. However, India's rising star PV Sindhu went down fighting to higher-ranked Tine Baun of Denmark in the first round.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Friday promised to allot five acres of land in the port city of Visakhapatnam to ace shuttler P V Sindhu for setting up a badminton academy for girls.
Sindhu was "angry and sad" after being criticised for not finishing on top in the last two World Championship finals and the gold medal in the 2019 edition was her answer to all her critics.
Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu remained in the hunt for a historic Asian Games gold medal after a tense win but Saina Nehwal settled for a bronze following her 10th straight defeat against World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying.
