Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Olympic bronze medal winning shuttler Saina Nehwal has been handed a relatively easy draw in the women's singles section at the upcoming World Badminton Championships, scheduled to be held in Guangzhou from August 5 to 11.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Wednesday said it might freeze the world rankings for a while as it works on a "fair solution" to the Olympic qualification process after the coronavirus pandemic forced a postponement of the Tokyo Games to 2021. There have been growing calls to freeze the world rankings after cancellations and postponements wrecked the sport's calendar. Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, B Sai Praneeth, Parupalli Kashyap and H S Prannoy have been leading the way in expressing concerns.
Kidambi Srikanth's hopes of a medal in the men's badminton competition at the Rio Olympics remain alive. India's sole men's singles player in the tournament scored hard-fought 21-19, 21-19 victory over world No. 5 Jan Jorgensen to enter the quarter-finals on Monday.
Sports events produce a multitude of highly amusing and crazy celebrations. Individual and team players have various way of celebrating victory, a goal or point. Some do it with a high-five, blow a kiss, cartwheel or dance. And on the soccer field, it's a soccer ball baby!
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal led India to the quarter-finals of Uber Cup with a crushing 4-1 victory over Hong Kong but it was curtains for their male counterparts in the Thomas Cup after they lost to Korea 2-3 in New Delhi.
Sachin Tendulkar told me I will become World No 1, says badminton ace Srikanth.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal was the only bright spot in what turned out to be a dismal day for the Indian badminton team as it crashed out of the prestigious Sudirman Cup after a 1-4 loss to three-time champions Korea in a Group 1D tie, in Dongguan China, on Wednesday.
Saina Nehwal has gained a place to be fifth in the latest Badminton World Federation women's singles rankings released on Thursday.
'I'm least bothered about the rankings of Kashyap or Srikanth. I want to make it on my own by winning titles.'
Still recovering from a foot injury and a recurring fever, defending champion Saina Nehwal has pulled out of the women's singles competition at the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Lucknow.
Banga Beats fought back from a 2-0 deficit to clinch the game by 3-2 in the Indian Badminton League (IBL) face-off against bottom-placed Banga Beats in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
After much dilly-dallying, the Sports Ministry has included Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa in the 'Target Olympic Podium Scheme' (TOP) scheme, putting an end to the controversy surrounding the doubles duo's complaint of bias against the Ministry and chief national coach Pullela Gopichand.
Mahesh Bhupathi says for India to host big-ticket WTA events, the country needs to produce a top-50 women's singles player, who can bring the fans to the stadium.
Saina Nehwal fought her way back from a game down to win her opening round match while compatriot P V Sindhu crushed her opponent to storm into the second round of the French Super Series in Paris, on Wednesday.
India's ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanth feels the Swiss Open win has put him on course for a first-ever Olympic qualification but says he needs maintain consistency to make the cut for the 2016 Rio Games and achieve World No. 1 ranking.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the tributes that poured in for Badminton Association of India president Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta, who passed away in Lucknow after suffering a heart attack on Wednesday.
Making their first appearance in the WTA Finals in Singapore, Sania Mirza and Cara Black outplayed Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears in their opening match to book their semi-finals berth on Thursday.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist R M V Gurusaidutt is desperate to avenge India's Thomas Cup loss to Korea when they open their campaign against the hosts in badminton team event in the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon, Korea.
Srikanth had entered the finals of Commonwealth Games last year but he failed to reach the summit clash in any BWF superseries or BWF World Tour tournament since his French Open win in October, 2017.
Despite being predictable and sluggish at some places, Saina seems like something Parineeti Chopra would be proud of, notes Prateek Sur.
The 24-year-old from Hyderabad will begin her campaign against China's Li Xuerui, a former Olympic gold medallist and World No 1.
Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk produced a superb comeback against Ajay Jayaram in the deciding fifth rubber to help Chennai Smashers edge out Mumbai Rockets 4-3 in a thrilling final to clinch the Premier Badminton League season 2 title.
H S Prannoy lost in the opening round even as compatriots Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu entered the second round of the $ 350,000 India Open Super 500 tournament, in New Delhi on Wednesday.
'It is very close to Puma's deal with Kohli in terms of yearly sponsorship.' 'Sindhu will get Rs 40 crore as sponsorship while the rest will be for equipment.'
I need funds to play more international tournaments, says National Champion Sourabh Verma
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
After losing seven successive finals, PV Sindhu finally redeemed herself with the gold medal at the World Tour Finals.
Indian racer Arjun Maini made a strong start to his highly-anticipated debut in the European LeMans Series, recording the second fastest laptime in the qualifying session of the race.
India's Kidambi Srikanth played his heart out before going down fighting against two-time defending champion Lin Dan in the quarterfinals of the men's singles badminton event at the Rio Olympics on Wednesday. The 21-year-old from Guntur, who had beaten the five-time World Champion from China in the 2014 China Open final, suffered a 6-21 21-11 21-18 loss against the World No. 3 Chinese in a nerve-wrecking match that lasted for an hour and four minutes.
Indian athletes will be in action in various disciplines at the 2012 Olympics on Thursday. Check out their time schedule.
Indian athletes will be in action in various disciplines at the 2012 Olympics on Tuesday. Check out their time schedule.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
The revamped Premier Badminton League (PBL), commencing here tomorrow with hosts Mumbai Rockets taking on the Saina Nehwal-spearheaded Awadhe Warriors, is to experiment with a new concept - Trump match - that's expected to keep the interest till the end of a tie.
The administrators are busy thrashing out resumption plans but with the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, India's sportsperson are pleading for caution as discussion rages on whether competitions can resume by August. Top stars from various disciplines want the waiting period to continue, while others pointed out at the loss it would cause in terms of fitness and readiness.
'Saina and Sindhu are top contenders, but they will have to beat players who are playing solid badminton at this juncture.'
World champion P V Sindhu was on Friday ousted from the All England Championship after being outplayed by a determined Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, who rallied her way to a thrilling three-game win in the quarter-final of the women's singles in Birmingham. Sindhu's defeat ended India's campaign at the Super 1000 tournament.
In India, Twitter has so far focused on cricket alone, given the game's popularity among the masses here.
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.