Saina Nehwal feels the year going by is one of the best of her career but rued that a series of injuries affected her chances of winning more titles.
The city is in garba and dandiya practice mode.
Olympic medallists Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu will be the cynosure of all eyes when the seventh India Super Series badminton tournament gets underway with the qualifiers in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Three-time champion Saina Nehwal is likely to clash with fellow Indian P V Sindhu in the women's singles second round of the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier in Jakarta next month.
A resurgent Saina Nehwal and fast rising PV Sindhu, country's best women shuttlers, set up a summit clash against each other at the Syed Modi International badminton tournament in Lucknow.
The Indian contingent's schedule at the Rio Olympics for Saturday.
'Saina and Sindhu are top contenders, but they will have to beat players who are playing solid badminton at this juncture.'
Srikanth, now ranked five, was placed seventh before the Malaysia Open, where he lost his last-four clash to the reigning Asian champion Kento Momota.
Saina, who had won a silver medal two years ago at Jakarta, gave everything in a battle of attrition but Okuhara's never-say-die attitude helped her to outmanoeuvre the Indian in an energy-sapping sem-ifinal clash at the Emirates Arena.
India's top shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will be seen in action for the first time since the coronavirus-forced break when they compete in three upcoming tournaments in Bangkok, including the prestigious BWF World Tour Finals.
Hyderabad Hotshots, spearheaded by Indian badminton icon Saina Nehwal, brought down the high-flying, unbeaten Pune Pistons with a comprehensive 4-1 victory in the Indian Badminton League, at the NSCI courts, in Mumbai.
Riding on her title-triumph at the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold, India's P V Sindhu, on Thursday, jumped one place to be just outside the top 10 in the latest BWF ranking.
The London Olympics bronze medallist beat world No. 73 Brazilian Vicente Lohaynny 21-17, 21-17 in 39 minutes, while Sindhu, a two-time World Championships bronze winner, had things her way against Laura Sarosi of Hungary, winning 21-8, 21-9 in 27 minutes.
Sindhu and compatriot Saina Nehwal have lost 22 matches between them to Tai.
In a men's singles quarter-final match earlier in the day, Sameer Verma too was shown the door after he suffered a 10-21, 12-21 loss to second seed Shi Yuqi of China.
The London Olympics bronze medallist will next play seventh seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, who knocked out two-time defending champion Spain's Carolina Marin 21-18, 14-21, 21-15 in the other quarter-final.
Top shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap along with two other Indians sailed into the second round of the Denmark Super Series Premier with contrasting wins in the opening round, but it was curtains for P V Sindhu in Odense on Wednesday.
Pullela Gopichand hoped that one of the three prodigal talents he has shaped will end the 18-year-old title drought at the event this year.
Badminton is not as popular as cricket in India and therefore comparatively does not attract as many sponsors.
The 27-year-old London Olympics bronze medallist hard broke a sweat as she cruised past her Swiss opponent 21-11, 21-12 in just 33 minutes at the Emirates Arena.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Crowned the world number one, Saina Nehwal celebrated her numero uno status with a straight-game demolition of Japanese Yui Hashimoto, while Kidambi Srikanth too saw off Xue Song of China to reach their maiden finals at the Yonex Sunrise India Super Series.
On an extremely bad for India at the Denmark Open, top seed Saina Nehwal suffered a shock second round defeat while Kidambi Srikanth also failed to clear the second round in men's singles of the $650,000 Super Series Premier event, in Odense on Thursday.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal said 2018 was a tough year for Indian badminton as players hardly got any breaks to recover between tournaments.
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu got off to winning starts in their season, notching up straight-game victories in their respective opening round women's singles matches in the $500,000 Malaysia Super Series Premier on Wednesday.
'Let's be the strength of our nation and help it reach greater heights.'
Lakshya had struggled through much of 2023 and early part of 2024. He fell behind in the qualification race but turned things around in time with two semi-final finishes at the All England Championship and the French Open to seal his place in the Olympics.
Fifth seed Sindhu will now look to avenge her All England loss against Korea's Sung Ji Hyun, whom she faces next, while Srikanth will meet Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab on Thursday.
Wrestler Babita Phogat congratulated the Hyderabad police department for what they did, saying that it will make every woman in the country really proud.
Indian teen sensation P V Sindhu made sure of a second consecutive bronze medal at the World Badminton Championships, but it was curtains for Saina Nehwal after she was beaten in straight games in the women's singles quarter-finals at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen on Friday.
