Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu progressed to the men's and women's singles second round with straight game wins in a mixed day for India at the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament.
Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu will miss the Swiss Open as she recovers from travel disruptions in Dubai. H S Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth will lead the Indian challenge.
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.
Earlier, a series of unforced errors and bad line judgements put Srikanth, world ranked 24, on the back foot as world No. 20 Ka Long looked in fine fettle during the 38-minute men's singles match.
Sindhu had beaten world number 18 Zhang in the Malaysian Open quarter-finals in May this year but the Chinese avenged that defeat and also made the lifetime win-loss record to 3-2 against the Indian.
Kidambi Srikanth made a winning start but PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy were ousted
Manjunath will play Taipei's Yu Jen, who was lucky to progress after fifth seed Rasmus Gemke retired in the second game after pocketing the first.
Achanta Sharath Kamal said the ongoing protest by the wrestlers has shown the importance of an athletes' body in all National Sports Federations.
Placed at number 10 in the Race to Guanzhou rankings, Srikanth needed to win the tournament to have any hopes of qualifying for the season-ending World Tour Final in December.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran progressed to the singles third round at the World Table Tennis Championships with a 4-0 win over Russia's Vladimir Sidorenko in Houston.
Wrestlers sound alarm over training disruption, urge SAI to reopen centres
India's campaign at the Sudirman Cup came to an end as they went down to Malaysia in the second Group C match.
Kidambi Srikanth scored a stunning straight-games victory over world No. 4 Lee Zii Jia but Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen suffered a shock defeat in the opening round of the Japan Open Super 750 badminton tournament, in Osaka, on Wednesday.
Saina Nehwal's chances of defending her title at the Commonwealth Games looks bleak as she has decided to skip the selection trials for the upcoming multi-sport events.
Asian Champions Trophy in Dhaka is the men's hockey team's first assignment post Tokyo Olympics.
India's double Olympics medallist P V Sindhu continued her impressive run at the French Open badminton tournament, sailing into the women's singles semi-finals with a straight-game win over Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan, in Paris, on Friday. Sindhu, seeded third, scripted a convincing 21-14, 21-14 win over eighth seeded in 38 minutes to extend her head-to-head record against the Thai to 14-1.
India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty outclassed Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe of Japan in straight games to enter the men's doubles final at the French Open.
They have also taken help from Soumyadeep Roy and Kamlesh Mehta to shortlist the needy ones from across the country.
Star Indian paddler Manika Batra crashed out of the women's singles in the World Table Tennis Championships Finals after a first round defeat, while Sathiyan Gnanasekaran advanced to the second round in the men's singles, in Houston, on Wednesday.
Satwik-Chirag dished out a gritty performance to outwit the local favourites a
India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal accused the sport's administrators of placing money above players' safety by continuing last week's All England Championships despite the coronavirus pandemic. The 30-year-old lost in the opening round of the marquee event, which was among a handful which continued even as the bulk of global sporting calendar was either postponed or cancelled.
India's top shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth registered straight-game victories to make impressive starts to their singles campaigns at the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals in Bali on Wednesday.
P V Sindhu's campaign at the Indonesia Open Super 1000 tournament came to an end after she went down to former World champion Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand in a hard-fought women's singles semi-final, in Bali, on Saturday.
Kamal had lifted the Oman Open last month and took a leap of seven spots in the latest senior men's rankings released by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) to grab the 31st position.
India's Saina Nehwal on Saturday crashed out of the Orleans Masters after losing in the semi-final against Denmark's Line Christophersen, in Paris on Saturday.
The Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament, one of badminton's last two Olympic qualifying events, was on Friday postponed due to a recent COVID-19 surge in the host country, dealing a severe blow to the Tokyo hopes of Indian stars like Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth.
Former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal will miss the World Championships for the first time in her international career due to multiple injuries that have derailed her season.
India has entered the final of the Thomas Cup for the first time since the tournament began 73 years back.
An Indian team which is a nice little blend of youth and experience, will have to punch above its weight in what's going to be an arduous challenge in the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships here on Sunday.
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.
Stuck indoors and without a training partner during India's coronavirus lockdown, the country's top table tennis player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran says he is staying sharp by practising with a robot. The governing International Table Tennis Federation has suspended all of its events and activities until June 30 and the three-week lockdown in force in India has disrupted the daily routines of athletes like Sathiyan.
Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu cruised past Evgeniya Kosetskaya of Russia in the opening round of the Fuzhou China Open on Tuesday.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal said 2018 was a tough year for Indian badminton as players hardly got any breaks to recover between tournaments.
P V Sindhu beat world No.12 Busanan 21-17, 21-13 in the women's singles opener, while Kidambi Srikanth demolished Sitthikom Thammasin 21-11, 21-11 in 37 minutes in the men's singles.
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.
India's P V Sindhu finished second best at the World Tour Badminton Finals after going down tamely to Korean teen sensation An Seyoung in the women's singles final, in Bali, on Sunday. The reigning World champion and two-time Olympic medallist was unable to match the pace nor breach the defence of the world No. 6 and was beaten 16-21, 12-21 in the 40 minutes.
Saina Nehwal was forced to retire midway through her opening match but India's young brigade produced a clinical display to notch up a fine 3-2 win over Spain and get off to a winning start in the Uber Cup in Aarhus, on Sunday.
Sindhu hardly had to break a sweat as she posted a comfortable 21-14 21-7 win over the third seeded Japanese shuttler in just 44 minutes.
The 2021 All England Open will be the second tournament this year to offer ranking points to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, after the Swiss Open.
The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) will make a fresh attempt to organise a training camp at the end of June but top players including Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan are not ready to travel anytime soon as the situation remains "unsafe".
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances