Prannoy saves five match points to progress, Lakshya Sen exits China Open
P V Sindhu bowed out, while H S Prannoy and Lakshya Sen scored hard-fought wins to advance in the Hong Kong Open Super 500 tournament.
India's men's and women's teams advanced to the quarter-finals despite suffering narrow 2-3 defeats to Japan and Thailand respectively in their final group ties at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Qingdao, China, on Thursday.
Former champion Lakshya Sen produced a composed and tactical performance to advance to the quarterfinals of the $950,000 India Open Super 750 badminton tournament but Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy bowed out after a spirited show, in New Delhi, on Thursday.
In women's singles, Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist and 2019 world champion, will have to recover from the shock defeat against fellow Indian Unnati Hooda at the China Open.
Haven't seen anything bad: Srikanth defends India Open playing conditions
Earlier, former world No.1 Srikanth had to dig deep to outlast fellow Indian Tharun Mannepalli 15-21, 21-6, 21-19.
Two-time Olympics medallist P V Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and the star pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty form the core of India's squad for the Badminton Asia Team Championships, in Qingdao, China, from February 3-8.
Kidambi Srikanth entered the quarter-finals of Malaysia Masters after defeating Ireland's Nhat Nguyen in his second-round match but H S Prannoy bowed out with a straight game loss.
Play was briefly interrupted during the women's doubles semifinal of the ongoing India Open Super 750 tournament on Saturday after some "particles from the bird's nest" fell on the court.
Sindhu, Prannoy advance to second round of Singapore Open
Prannoy fought back to level at 13-13, but Popov surged ahead as the Indian crumbled.
Lakshya Sen progressed to the quarterfinals of the men's singles competition at the Kumamoto Masters Japan with a straight game win over Singapore's Jia Heng Jason Teh in Kumamoto, Japan, on Thursday.
yush Shetty and former World championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen advanced in the Australian Open in contrasting fashion to set up an all-Indian quarterfinal clash.
Sen, 26, who had made it to the Hong Kong Open final but has gone without a title this year, had a tough time beating Shetty in the opening game.
Tanvi Sharma stuns Okuhara, Manraj Singh oust Prannoy to make quarters.
Lakshya Sen's title win, a World Championships medal from Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty offered hope amidst a difficult 2025 for Indian badminton.
But it was end of the road for Sen's compatriot Kiran George, who lost 20-22, 10-21 to Malaysia's Jing Hong Kok.
Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu made a winning start to the Badminton Asia Championships with a straight-game win over Ester Nurumi Wardoyo of Indonesia in the women's singles while Lakshya Sen made an early exit from the men's singles draw in Ningbo, China, on Wednesday.
Given the Indian duo's struggles with fitness and injury over the last few weeks, this was a commendable win.
Star Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered the men's doubles second round with a tough straight-game win over Chinese Taipei's Chang Ko-Chi and Po Li-Wei at the Australian Open Super 500 tournament in Sydney on Tuesday.
P V Sindhu overcame long-time rival Nozomi Okuhara of Japan to advance to the Round of 16.
Our current players just need to develop a bit more physically: Saina Nehwal
Ayush stuns Naraoka to join Satwik-Chirag, Lakshya in quarterfinals at Hong Kong Open
Lakshya Sen is only the third Indian men's badminton player to reach the quarter-finals at the Olympic Games.
He will next face Le Duc Phat of Vietnam on Wednesday in the second and final group match.
Ravaged but resolute H S Prannoy focussed on increasing speed ahead of Paris Olympics
The World No. 10 Prannoy was the latest to be eliminated on a day when Sameer Verma, mixed doubles pair of Sikki Reddy and B Sumeeth Reddy along with women singles player Aakarshi Kashyap drew blanks.
India's men's singles campaign suffered a setback as none of the players could make it past the opening round on Day 2 of the India Open in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy have been handed relatively easy groups for the Paris Games, which begin on July 26.
P V Sindhu knows how to win big tournaments, but as she enters her 30s, the two-time Olympic medallist must be selective about which competitions she chooses to go "all out" in, feels London Games bronze winner Saina Nehwal.
PV Sindhu stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of the Olympic Games' women's singles competition
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.
New Delhi has been chosen as the host city of the next Badminton World Championships in August 2026, the sport's global governing body BWF announced on Monday.
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.
Diwan Arun Nanda, founder of Rediffusion and one of India's last great admen, changed the industry with memorable campaigns, political ads, and a rare mix of sharp strategy and creativity.
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.
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.
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.
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