The Olympics in London next year is Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal's best chance for Olympic glory. But, for that to happen, Indonesian badminton legend Rudy Hartono says, she needs to improve her physical fitness considerably.
Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal celebrated her No 1 ranking by beating Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon to clinch the India Open $275,000 Yonex Sunrise Super series event at the Siri Fort sports complex in New Delhi on Sunday.
Newly-crowned India Open champions Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth continued their rampaging international run, notching contrasting victories to enter the second round of the US $500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday.
Saina Nehwal scored her first victory in three matches at the Superseries Finals, beating Korea's Bae Yeon Ju in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
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.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal suffered a heartbreaking narrow loss to Olympic Champion Li Xuerui in the semifinals of the India Open Super Series badminton tournament in New Delhi on Saturday. The 26-year-old Indian lost 20-22, 21-17, 19-21 to Li in an edge-of-the-seat thriller in the women's singles competition, to draw curtains on Indian challenge at the Siri Fort Complex. In a nail-biting contest, Saina matched up to Li in the fast-paced rallies but she was not consistent in finishing the rallies. Li, on the other hand, blew hot and cold as some of her cross court half-smashes caught Saina off-guard. Although she also faltered with many strokes. Saina opened up a 8-5 lead early on and managed to stave off the challenge from Li till 11-9. But the Chinese soon managed to draw parity with two quick points and then turned the tables, reaching 16-13. Saina roared back to level with a superb drop from the back court before Li found the net. The Chinese hit wide again and both were tied at 18-18. Another miscued smash and Saina was leading 19-18. What followed was an energy-sapping rally that ended with a return, which Saina didn't even try. But the Indian ensured she has the first shot to take advantage as she reached the game point with a smash that Li could only send to the net.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal has decided to donate Rs 6 lacs -- Rs 50,000 each -- to the families of the 12 Central Reserve Police Force jawans killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh last week.
The Lok Sabha on Monday felicitated badminton star Saina Nehwal and tennis player Sania Mirza.
Reigning World champion and title favourite P V Sindhu sailed into the pre-quarter-finals at the China Open Super 1000 tournament with a convincing straight-games victory over former Olympic gold medallist Li Xuerui, in Changzhou, on Wednesday.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal wants Bajirao Mastani actress Deepika Padukone to portray her in the upcoming biopic on herself.
Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that his Ministry on Monday recommended Saina's name for Padma Bhushan.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
Leading Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth won their first round matches in contrasting style at the Star Australian Open Superseries in Sydney on Wednesday.
PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth advanced into the second round while Saina Nehwal and Sai Praneeth made first-round exits at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham on Wednesday.
The ace Indian shuttler lost 17-21 21-19 21-11 to fifth seed Mi Zhou of China in the semi-final of the Singapore Open.
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal played her heart out but went down to Xuerui Li of China 18-21, 29-30 at the French Open Super Series in Paris on Thursday.
Michael Schumacher "will remain an invalid for the rest of his life", said leading medical expert Erich Riederer.
Saina Nehwal underwent a scan to diagnose her Achilles tendon problems and has been prescribed rest for a couple of weeks.
Ace Indian shuttlers, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, had a disappointing start to their campaign at the BWF Super Series Finals as they suffered straight-game defeats on the opening day of the prestigious event in Dubai.
London Olympics bronze medalist Saina Nehwal will no doubt be the cynosure of all eyes but the India Open Super Series starting in New Delhi on Tuesday, will hold more significance for the country's other shuttlers, who would look to prove their mettle at the highest level.
India's top badminton players Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth took a big step on way to reaching the semi-finals at the World Super Series Finals by securing second consecutive wins in their respective group in Dubai.
An angry Saina Nehwal slammed the Sports Ministry after the Olympic bronze medallist's name was not included for the prestigious Padma Bhushan award -- India's third highest civilian award.
Saina, who has been battling illness and injuries, is going through a bad patch, having lost six times in the first round this season.
London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal said that unheralded Brazilian opponent Vicente Lohaynny "surprised her" as the first round at major events are always "tricky and difficult to play".
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal is virtually out of the semifinals race of the BWF World Super Series Finals after losing her second consecutive women's singles Group B match in the $ 500,000 event in Shenzhen, China on Thursday.
Indian challenge ended at the $275,000 French Open Super Series badminton tournament after top seed Saina Nehwal suffered a straight game defeat to Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon in the quarter-finals in Paris.
Former Olympic and World champion Taufik Hidayat feels that the emergence of the talented PV Sindhu will not only reduce the burden of expectations on Saina Nehwal but also make India a force to reckon with in women's singles category.
Riding on her maiden Denmark Open title triumph, India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal gained a position to climb up to third spot in the latest World badminton ranking announced on Thursday.
The Rio Olympic silver-medallist knocked out defending champion Nozomi Okuharabeat 21-17, 21-19 to advance.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal sailed into the semi-finals of the Indonesia Super Series Premier after a straight-games victory over Carolina Marin of Spain, in Jakarta, on Friday.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal and rising star Arundhati Pantawane advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of Thailand Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament after notching up contrasting wins in the women's singles competition in Bangkok, on Wednesday.
Saina Nehwal suffered a shock defeat to Inthanon Ratchanok, but a determined India rode on P Kashyap and the pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa's stunning victories to enter the quarter-finals of the Sudirman Cup, after a 3-2 victory over Thailand in the second match of Group C in Qingdao, China, on Monday.
World No.2 Saina Nehwal notched up a comfortable straight-game victory in their Trump match over P C Thulashi in the women's singles event to guide Awadhe Warriors to a convincing victory over Delhi Aces in their Premier Badminton League (PBL) match in Lucknow on Monday.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal rallied from a game down to beat Sayaka Takahashi of Japan 14-21, 21-18, 21-12 and enter the quarter-finals of the women's singles at the World Badminton Championships, in Copenhagen, on Thursday. The world No. 7, seeded seventh in the tournament, will take on World No. 1 Li Xuerui of China next.
The Indian national champions handed out a humiliating 21-9, 21-6 defeat to Nguyen in 22 minutes to earn a meeting with top seed Xingfang Xie of China on Friday.
Star shuttler Saina Nehwal lit up another gloomy day for India at the Olympic Games by storming her way into the women's singles semi-finals while shooting medal hope Ronjan Sodhi fell by the wayside on Thursday.
Making a comeback after a three-month injury lay-off, Saina Nehwal struggled to make an impression as she went down to Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in the first round of the China Open Super Series.
Saina Nehwal produced one of her finest performances in recent times to guide Indian women's team to a comfortable victory over Thailand and catapult the hosts to the top of Group Y in the Uber Cup badminton tournament in New Delhi.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Wednesday fought hard to defeat Indonesia's Hanna Ramadini and enter the second round in the women's singles event of the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament. Saina defeated World No. 44 Hanna 21-23, 21-14, 21-18 in a match that lasted more than an hour. She will take on Dinar Dyah Ayustine in the second round.
World number one Saina Nehwal disposed off Nichaon Jindapon's challenge in straight games, but PV Sindhu crashed out of the Indonesian Open Super Series badminton tournament after a close first-round defeat, in Jakarta, on Wednesday. In the men's singles, both the Indians in the fray -- Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth -- advanced to the second round with contrasting victories.
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