Sporting icons -- PV Sindhu and MC Mary Kom -- will be the star attractions among the Indians on Day 6 of the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.
The biggest upset of the day was produced by Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi, who knocked out Olympic champion and last year's finalist Carolina Marin 21-12, 21-19, in a 48-minute clash.
Wrestler Aman Sehrawat added to India's medal tally at the Olympics, winning the bronze in the men's 57kg Freestyle in Paris on Friday. He defeated Puerto Rico's Darian Cruz 13-5.
Nehwal has had a troubled run in this year as she has now faced exits from a tournament in the first round five times.
Sindhu said she is working on her technique to iron out the flaws.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu clinched her maiden Super Series Premier title after edging out Sun Yu of China in the finals of the China Open badminton tournament in Fuzhou on Sunday. Sindhu, who became the toast of the country after becoming the first Indian women to win a silver at Rio Games, continued her rampaging run as she lifted the prestigious title after beating Sun 21-11 17-21 21-11 in the summit clash that lasted an hour and nine minutes.
After six successive losses in 13 meetings, PV Sindhu finally got the better of her nemesis World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty achieved a career-best world number three
Coaching is the toughest job: Saina Nehwal on her future
Star shuttlers, including P V Sindhu, will chase individual gold medals but doubles would also under the spotlight as India would aim to retain the mixed team title and continue their consistent run at the Commonwealth Games.
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.
She will meet World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying for the title on Sunday.
Expectations from the Indian male shuttlers will also be high, given their exploits in recent months.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
As Kidambi Srikanth lost his second round match, India's campaign ended at the Singapore Open.
Describing the year that's coming to an end as "fantastic" for her personally, Rio Olympic Games silver medal-winning shuttler Pusarla V Sindhu said she was now targeting the no.1 world ranking among women after reaching a career-best six at present. "It has been a fantastic year for me, because winning a medal at the Olympics is a big achievement. It's a dream come true. Also, I always had in mind that I wanted to win a Super Series title and that also was fulfilled (at the China Open)," Sindhu told reporters on the sidelines of a promotional event in Mumbai on Thursday.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu celebrated her 23rd birthday with a straight-game win over Japan's Aya Ohori to enter the quarter-finals of the $1,250,000 Indonesia Open BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournament.
P V Sindhu hoped to regain peak fitness before the start of individual events and assured India will return with multiple medals.
Two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Saina Nehwal continued her impressive run, progressing into the women's singles semi-finals with a straight-game win over unseeded Korean Lee Jang Mi at the Asia Badminton Championship in Wuhan, on Friday.
Check out how India's athletes fared on Day 5, Wednesday, July 31, 2024:
The top Indian players, including Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Srikanth have failed to lift the prestigious trophy
Sindhu is the only Indian to feature in the women's singles competition.
P V Sindhu won the ESPN's 'Female Sportsperson of the Year' award while young shooter Saurabh Chaudhary bagged the honour in the male category.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu avenged her heart-breaking loss at the Rio Games to two-time World Champion Carolina Marin with a thrilling straight-game victory in a do-or-die, women's singles Group B contest and sealed her place at the semi-finals of the BWF World Super Series Finals in Dubai on Friday.
P V Sindhu breezed into the summit clash of the World Tour Finals for the second successive time after prevailing over 2013 World champion Ratchanok Intanon in a tense semi-final.
The reigning Olympic silver medallist took just 36 minutes to record her 2nd win in the competition.
From Neeraj Chopra to PV Sindhu, India's top sports personalities hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for hosting a successful G20 Summit and taking "international diplomacy to a whole new level".
Pullela Gopichand salutes P V Sindhu on her superb showing that saw her return with a silver medal from the Rio Olympics.
President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday congratulated the Indian badminton mixed team for clinching silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Defending champions Delhi Acers defeated Chennai Smashers 5-2 to register their first win of the Premier Badminton Premier Season 2 at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium, in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Sindhu says the path to the Tokyo Olympic gold will be a tough one as now her opponents will look to exploit her weaknesses and she will need to add something new to her game to achieve success.
The Chirag-Satwik pair won the Thailand Open in May to reclaim the No.1 ranking but suffered loss of form and made a first-round exit from the Singapore Open last month.
India's ace shuttler PV Sindhu was conferred with the Padma Shri award by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the women's singles competition after defeating Korea's Kim Hyo Min in the second round of the World Championship in Glasgow on Tuesday.
P V Sindhu's gallant fight ended in agony as she suffered a second successive loss to World no. 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei at the summit clash of the Hong Kong Super Series on Sunday.
India's ace shuttler P V Sindhu did the star turn, winning two matches as Chennai Smashers outclassed Ahmedabad Smash Masters 2-1 in the Premier Badminton League in Chennai, on Saturday.
On the eighth day of CWG 2018, the 22-year-old from Hyderabad made everything look so easy as she clinched a comfortable 21-15, 21-9 win over Wendy Chen in a one-sided last-16 clash of the women's singles event that lasted 34 minutes at the Carrara Sports Arena.
India's hopes of winning twin titles in the Hong Kong Open Super Series were dashed on Sunday when Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu and national champion Sameer Verma lost their respective final clashes in contrasting fashion in Hong Kong. Sindhu, aiming for her second successive Super Series title, lost 15-21 17-21 to Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying in a 41-minute women's singles clash. Verma, on the other hand, went down 14-21 21-10 11-21 to local favourite Ng Ka Long Angus in a contest which lasted 50 minutes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, hosted the National Sports awardees, including Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu and bronze winner Sakshi Malik, at his 7 Race Course Road residence in New Delhi.
Indian teen sensation P V Sindhu made sure of a second consecutive bronze medal at the World Badminton Championships, but it was curtains for Saina Nehwal after she was beaten in straight games in the women's singles quarter-finals at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen on Friday.
