Former World No 1 Saina Nehwal stayed on course for the women's singles title at the season-opening Malaysia Masters after she advanced to the semi-finals of the $US 120,000 Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Sarawak, Malaysia.
Top shuttlers, including Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, are likely to leave for Malaysia and Singapore via Doha to participate in the last two Olympic qualifiers next month due to travel bans imposed by the two countries in the wake of unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases in India.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal moved one place up to occupy the fifth spot while P V Sindhu remained unchanged at 10th in the latest Badminton World Federation Rankings issued on Thursday. Saina, who clinched her second Australian Open title earlier this month, exchanged places with Japan's Nozomi Okuhara, who now occupies the sixth spot in the women's singles list headed by Spain's Carolina Marin.
Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal reached the quarter-finals of the Asia Badminton Championship after brushing aside Thailand's Nitchaon Jindapol in straight games, in Wuhan, China, on Thursday.
Three-time champion Saina Nehwal staved off a challenge from a lower-ranked Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei to make a positive start to her women's singles campaign at the $900,000 Indonesia Super Series Premier badminton tournament in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Saina showed signs of regaining her form on her way to a sensational win over Chinese world number 9 He Bing Jiao
Saina Nehwal breezed into the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open, scoring a 21-15, 21-17 victory over Japan's world No. 2-ramked Akane Yamaguchi on Thursday.
Saina dropped two spots to third in the women's singles list, and is placed below Spaniard Carolina Marin (80752), who rose a rung following her Australian Open title triumph.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, who regained the number one spot in international rankings, said it was a big achievement for her.
India's Saina Nehwal finished runner-up at the US $700,000 China Open Super Series Premier.
Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal set up a semifinal clash against old nemesis and World No. 1 Yihan Wang of China after easing past local hope Tine Baun in straight games at the Denmark Open badminton tournament in Odense, Denmark.
Indian woman shuttler Saina Nehwal on Thursday sailed into the quarterfinal of the ongoing Yonex Chinese Taipei Open Badminton, beating Hong Kong's Kwan Yi Mong 21-8, 21-12.
Ajay Jayaram kept India's flag flying by entering the men's singles quarterfinals.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal sailed into the final of the US $700,000 China Open Super Series Premier after a 21-13, 21-18 win over local favourite Yihan Wang, at the Haixia Olympic Sports Centre, in Fuzhou, on Saturday.
Saina Nehwal staged a scintillating comeback to beat reigning world champion Carolina Marin and retain the women's singles title at the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal is just one step away from retaining her women's singles title of the $ 120,000 Syed Modi International Badminton tournament.
Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal, who made an early exit from the Rio Olympic Games, will undergo a knee surgery in Mumbai on Saturday. Saina, the 2012 London Games bronze medallist, tweeted a picture of her prescription page, announcing the surgery time at a city hospital. "Surgery tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 6 am friends pls pray for me," Saina tweeted.
'I didn't really like the way media put it that I have demanded the award. Who am I to demand for the award? I am nobody. I just wanted to know why my name was not considered'
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu cleared first round hurdles in the women's singles with contrasting victories at the Denmark Open Super Series Badminton Premier, in Odense, on Wednesday. In the men's singles, Parupalli Kashyap cruised into the second round, beating Rajiv Ouseph of England 21-15, 21-18.
PV Sindhu will open her campaign against South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun, while Saina Nehwal takes on Scotland's Kristy Gilmour in the first round.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal crossed the first hurdle with a straight-game victory but India overall had a bitter-sweet day at the Asia Badminton Championship.
World No. 1 Saina Nehwal survived a scare before prevailing over Thailand's Busanan Ongbumrungphan in the opening round of the Denmark Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old Olympic bronze medallist and World No 9 went down 16-21, 23-21, 4-21 to her 19-year-old opponent in the women's singles match.
The Indian ace went down tamely to Tine Rasmussen of Denmark in her opening match of badminton Super Series Masters finals. World No 10 Saina lost 18-21, 14-21 to the world No 2 Rasmussen in just 27 minutes.
Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth sailed into the semi-finals of the of the $ 120000 Thailand Grand Prix Gold after registering a straight-game win over local player Kantaphon Wangcharoen in Bangkok on Friday.
Indian shuttlers had a mixed day in the opening round of the China Open with Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu easing into Round II, while Kidambi Srikanth and Ajay Jayaram making early exits.
Saina Nehwal eschews the 'natural talent' tag thrust upon her by Indian media and says only hard graft and good coaching have given her the chance to turn the Olympic badminton bronze she won four years ago in London into gold at the Rio Games.
Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone feels Saina Nehwal has achieved more than Sania Mirza vis--vis performance because of the fact that she has beaten more higher-ranked players than the tennis ace.
India's campaign in the women's singles of the $350,000 Hong Kong Super Series came to an end after ace shuttler Saina Nehwal was stunned by Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal sailed into the semi-finals of the US $700,000 China Open Super Series Premier after a straight games' victory over Japan's Nozomi Okuhara, at the Haixia Olympic Sports Centre, in Fuzhou, on Friday.
While praising the depth in the Indian men's ranks and expecting it to last for the next 10 years, badminton legend Prakash Padukone lamented that the women's side did not possess the same depth in class after world no. 2 Saina Nehwal and no. 12 P V Sindhu.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu stormed into the women's singles second round at the Swiss Open with a straight-game win over Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt in Basel.
Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Ajay Jayaram continued their good run and reached the quarterfinals of the season-opening Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold in Sarawak on Thursday.
India's leading shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the second round of the French Open with straight-game wins, but it was curtains for Sameer Verma at the US $750,000 BWF event, in Paris, on Wednesday.
Saina Nehwal's struggle for form summed up a disappointing year for Indian Badminton, the rare high point of which was Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa's World Championships bronze medal.
Young men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty too entered the quarter-finals after getting past Chinese Taipei's Liao Min Chun and Su Ching Heng 21-17, 21-16 in the second round.
Still smarting from her second-round exit in Denmark last week, Saina Nehwal will seek redemption when she starts her campaign at the French Open Super series, which begins with the qualifiers at Paris on Tuesday.
Saina and Busanan engaged in some long rallies but it was the Thai shuttler who had the last laugh
Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap have urged badminton's governing body to reconsider its decision not to extend the qualification period for the Tokyo Games despite several events being cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus.
The hype around tennis ace Sania Mirza may be bigger but ace shuttler Saina Nehwal clearly has the edge in terms of performance, feels badminton legend Prakash Padukone.
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