Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
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).
Kohli's post stole people's hearts becoming the most retweeted sports-related tweet
Two-time World Championship bronze-medallist, India's P V Sindhu made a rousing start to the new season as she clinched the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold title after defeating Scotland's Kristy Gilmour in straight games in the final, in Penang, on Sunday.
Sindhu, a 2019 World Champion, lost 14-21, 21-15, 14-21 to Zhang in a match that lasted 55 minutes.
India's P V Sindhu squandered an 11-6 lead in the second game before going down 18-21, 21-18, 21-8 in 68 minutes to former world number one Akane Yamaguchi.
Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu was the Sportswoman of the Year award in the individual sport category, a statement read.
Sindhu, who had finished runners-up at the last edition in Dubai, will have a tough task at hand as she has been clubbed with defending champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei and USAs' Beiwen Zhang in Group A.
PV Sindhu, on Tuesday, said she wants to change the colour of her Olympic medal from silver to gold at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Sindhu, who had won the silver at the World Championship last month, recovered from a mid-game slump to stave off the challenge from World No. 19 Minatsu Mitani of Japan 21-19, 16-21, 21-10 in a match that lasted 63 minutes.
The top-16 in the world by April-end will make the cut for the Olympics.
World no 10 men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, however, are expected to face a stiff challenge in the league stage.
Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu proved once again how Macau Open Grand Prix is her favourite hunting ground.
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
Third seed Sindhu lost 17-21, 21-16, 18-21 to Zhang in another tough opening encounter that lasted 56 minutes.
The Olympic silver medallist settled for second place yet again following a 19-21, 10-21 loss to Olympic champion Caroline Marin of Spain.
P V Sindhu and Lakshya Sen sailed into the second round but it was curtains for Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth on a mixed day for India at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament in Paris on Wednesday.
It's a demoralising loss for especially considering Japan did not field their full-strength team, with several top players absent.
Newly-crowned India Open Super Series champion PV Sindhu feels that winning the hard-fought first game against Carolina Marin proved to be crucial in the final outcome of the match.
While Olympic and two-time World Championship silver medallist, Sindhu stamped her authority with a 21-12, 21-15 win over Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the second round, Srikanth got the better off Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto in a three-game match.
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.
India's Parupalli Kashyap played one of the longest matches of his career as he roared into the prequarterfinals.
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.
Defending champion Lakshya Sen looked in fine fettle as he registered a straight-game win over compatriot H S Prannoy to make a winning start to his title defence at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super 750 badminton tournament, in Delhi, on Tuesday.
H S Prannoy outwitted World No 2 and title favourite Kidambi Srikanth in a thrilling final to win the men's singles title at the 82nd Senior National Championship, in Nagpur on Wednesday.
P V Sindhu sought the help of the legendary Prakash Padukone and trained at his academy in Bengaluru last week.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lakshya Sen, Tokyo Olympic B Sai Praneeth and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde will be in action later on Wednesdat.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty assured India of a men's doubles medal at the Badminton Asia Championships after 52 years after making it to the semi-finals in Dubai.
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.
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.
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.
Indian women shuttlers advanced to the Badminton Asia Team Championship quarter-finals despite a 1-4 loss to Japan in which P V Sindhu notched the country's only win Alor Setar, Malaysia, on Thursday.
Sen has a 4-2 head-to-head record against his final opponent Li Shi Feng, the reigning All-England champion. Sen had defeated him recently at the Thailand Open.
Team India will compete in 15 sporting disciplines as well as four disciplines in the para sports category.
Srikanth outwitted world no. 24 Chinese Taipei's Wang Tzu Wei 21-17, 21-18 in a 43-minute contest.
Let's delve into the five most notable sporting accomplishments that India has achieved post August 15, 1947.
The Indian duo won 21-15, 21-13.
With the straight-game victory, Sindhu became the first Indian to achieve the feat.
