Indian shuttlers handed tough draws, Lakshya Sen to face world No 1 Shi Yu Qi in opener
This was their third semifinal appearance on the BWF Tour this season, having earlier reached the last four at the Singapore Open and India Open.
Chirag and his longtime partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won the men's doubles bronze last week
'Arundhati Roy is like a ballerina performing on a high wire, cool, supremely at ease but conscious of all the adoring eyes on her,' notes P Vijaya Kumar.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy have been handed relatively easy groups for the Paris Games, which begin on July 26.
PV Sindhu stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of the Olympic Games' women's singles competition
'And then the people who call themselves great nationalists, I can bet you that 99 per cent of them are dodging taxes, have sent their kids to America, or are doing everything to make sure that what goes on in this country doesn't affect their personal wealth or their whatever bull*&$%.'
This was a soaring evening that sent hearts aflutter and for a few brief moments we tasted the breath of pure freedom that has been missing in this country for the past several years.
Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty, and Tharun Mannepalli progressed to the second round of the men's singles competition at the Macau Open Super 300 badminton tournament after registering fine wins on Wednesday.
In mixed doubles, the husband-wife Indian pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy defeated Malaysia's Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien 21-17, 21-19.
Prannoy will take on Rajawat in the second round.
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.
Sudirman Cup: India bow out after defeat against Indonesia
However, it was curtains for Kiran George in the men's singles event as he lost 20-22, 6-21 against seventh seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan.
This is the first time that Sindhu has lost to a fellow Indian in an international event in seven years.
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.
Returning to action after recovering from a back injury, star India shuttler H S Prannoy emerged as the lone Indian survivor at the Japan Masters, advancing to the second round after a gritty victory in Kumamoto on Wednesday.
By securing a place in the semfinals, Haseena Sunil Kumar Prannoy became the first Indian in 41 years to book a badminton medal in the men's singles at the Asian Games.
Making his maiden semi-final appearance in a Super 500 tournament, Orleans Masters champion Rajawat gave a good account of himself, putting on a tough fight against sixth seed Prannoy in the opening game.
Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen will spearhead a strong contingent at the USD 250,000 Swiss Open, beginning on Tuesday, aiming to regain top form.
This is Sindhu's third consecutive first round loss.
It's a demoralising loss for especially considering Japan did not field their full-strength team, with several top players absent.
Prannoy is only seeded Indian player at No. 7 in the men's singles draw of 32 as he will begin his campaign against Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, against whom the Indian has a 4-1 win-loss record.
The Indian combination of Satwik and Chirag will play the Chinese pair of Xie Hao Nan and Zeng Wei Han in the next round.
H S Prannoy lost a three-game thriller to China's Weng Hong Yang in the men's singles final.
A weak return from Prannoy was disposed off quickly as Ka Long lead 17-8. Prannoy tried to up the pace only to falter at the net.
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.
Prannoy registered a 21-18, 22-20 win over the world number 12 Chen
Satwik and Chirag have looked in ominous form, winning the Asian Games gold in Hangzhou, a Super 1000 crown in Indonesia, the Korea Open Super 500 and the Swiss Open super 300 last year before grabbing a a career-best ranking of World No.1, albeit for a brief time.
Srikanth's Malaysia run shows he belongs at the top
H S Prannoy, who won a bronze medal in the singles at the Asian Games, has decided to switch allegiance to Tamil Nadu from Kerala.
The CM expressed hope that budding athletes and sportspersons in the state can take inspiration from his achievement and adopt the same attitude of hard work and dedication shown by the Indian shuttler.
HS Prannoy secured his maiden BWF World Tour title
Shetty had earlier shocked former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in straight games in his opening round.
Prannoy signs off with maiden World Championships bronze medal after losing semifinal to Vitidsarn
Indian women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri and Gayatri Gopichand also improved two spots to the 17th position.
The world number nine will play Hong Kong's fifth seed Angus Ng Ka Long in the last eight stage.
Olympic medallist P V Sindhu is also missing in action as she recovers from an injury.
Kidambi Srikanth's opening round match ended in agony as he retired due to a knee injury after lagging 14-21, 3-11 against Japan's fifth seed Kodai Naraoka.
World champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn crashed out of the India Open Super 750 badminton tournament
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