India has been battling a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced many countries to ban travellers from India.
Saina Nehwal and Chetan Anand won the women's and men's titles respectively at the National Badminton Championship.
Top seed Saina Nehwal pulled out of the Syed Modi International Grand Prix badminton tournament due to a hamstring injury and fever.
After notching up an incredible hat-trick of international titles, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Tuesday said she is confident of becoming the world's number one player soon.
Indonesian coach Agus Dwi Santoso has been roped in to guide the singles players -- both men and women -- ahead of Tokyo Olympics. Badminton Association of India (BAI) secretary, Ajay Singhania said the visa process has started and Santoso is likely to join the Indian team in the mid of next month.
Sameer Verma stayed on course for his title defence while three-time former champion Saina Nehwal too reached the semifinals with an easy win
Indian campaign in the World Super Series Masters Final got off to a disappointing start with ace shuttler Saina Nehwal and the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju biting dust in their first outing in Johor Bahru on Wednesday.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal stamped her authority to storm into the final of the French Super Series outclassing German Juliane Schenk in straight sets in the women's badminton singles in Paris.
The Indian teenager was beaten by Thailand's Soratija Chansrisukot in the third round.
A quarterfinal loss at the All England Championship saw Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal slip three places down the rung to the sixth spot in the latest BWF world ranking on Thursday. Saina, who turned 26, went through injuries last year and missed out on a few tournaments this season, including the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold and South Asian Games in January and February respectively. The Olympic bronze medallist, who had finished runners-up at the 2015 All England Championship, lost to Tai Tzu Ying in straight games in the quarterfinals. The Indian now has 73,222 points. Two-time bronze medallist at World Championship, P V Sindhu improved a place to reach the 11th spot.
But Chatan Anand crashed out in the first round at the All England badminton championships.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, who earned India its first badminton medal at the Olympics winning a bronze at London Games, on Thursday regained her fourth position in women's world rankings released.
Reader Nirav Trivedi sent us a picture od Saina Nehwal from Surat.
Making a comeback after undergoing a knee surgery, top Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal says that she sometimes feels her badminton career could come to an end due to the injuries she has suffered. Saina, recently made a member of the International Olympic Committee's Athletics Commission, is returning to action at the China Super Series Premier starting November 15. The 26-year-old Saina had developed a knee problem a week before she was to leave for Rio Olympics and she carried the injury through the Games before she made an early exit by losing her second match.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal's poor form in the international arena continued as she lost to Japan's Minatsu Mitani 21-19, 22-24, 19-21 in a hard-fought three-game battle in her opening match of the BWF Superseries Finals in Kuala Lumpur.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal remained on course for her second successive Super Series title by advancing to the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Open in Jakarta.
Ace Indian shuttlers Chetan Anand and Saina Nehwal made it to the semi-finals of the men's and women's singles respectively in the India Open Grand Prix with contrasting victories in Chennai on Friday. While top seed Chetan beat unseeded giant-killer Chun Seang Tan of Malaysia 21-15, 19-21, 21-16, world number six Saina thrashed compatriot Sayali Gokhale 21-4, 21-8 in the quarter-finals.
Saina Nehwal continued her rapid rise in world badminton as she gained 11 spots to reach a career best ranking of number 30.
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.
World Championship silver-medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal is aiming to remain injury-free and excel in all the Super Series tournaments in the run up to next year's Rio Olympics.
She lost to top seed Wang Yihan in the final at the World Junior Badminton Championships.
Saina Nehwal's bronze medal win at the Olympics is the happiest moment of her career. For her coach Pullela Gopichand, however, it means the world.
Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Anand Pawar advanced to the second round of the Denmark Open Super Series after contrasting victories in the opening round of the main draw at Odense on Wednesday. Fourth seed Saina beat Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 21-16, 21-8 in a 31-minute clash in the women's singles, while Anand saw off Pablo Abian 21-11, 21-12 in the men's singles.
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu entered the second round, but it was a disappointing day for India's men as two of them made an early exit from the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton, in Shah Alam, on Wednesday.
The Indian teenager was beaten by Yuan Kartika of Indonesia in her second qualifying match at the Indonesia Open badminton championships.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal entered the semi-finals of the Japan Open Super Series badminton tournament in Tokyo after dispatching Singapore's Juan Gu in straight games in just half an hour, on Friday.
The 16-year-old Indian ace beat Sachiyo Imai of Japan to make the grade at the Philippines Open badminton championships.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narendra Batra feels Sports Ministry should allow the parents of star shuttlers P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal to accompany them at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
With a badminton racquet in hand and a song on mind, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh met Indian ace badminton player Saina Nehwal on the sets of his upcoming film Dilwale.
Saina Nehwal registered a 21-17, 21-13 victory over China's Li Han to advance to the quarter-finals of Thailand Grand Prix Gold in Bangkok on Thursday.
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.
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.
Saina Nehwal struggled her way to the second round of the French Super Series badminton tournament after defeating German Juliane Schenk in a thrilling first-round match in Paris.
India ace shuttler Saina Nehwal started her title defense on a positive note, thrashing Japan's Sayaka Sato in straight-games in the first round of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold at Basel, Switzerland.
Rio Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu entered the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Super Series after posting a hard-fought victory over Singapore's Xiaoyu Liang even as Saina Nehwal bowed of the competition on Friday, ending all hopes of a Saina-Sindhu semi-final battle.
Chicken pox has rendered Saina Nehwal doubtful for next month's World Badminton Championships even though the ace shuttler remains hopeful of competing in the high-profile event at hometown Hyderabad. Saina, who named among the Arjuna award winners on Wednesday, was down with mild fever since Saturday and it was only on Wednesday that she was diagnosed with chicken pox and advised complete bed rest for the next few days.
Saina Nehwal suffered a stunning straight-game defeat in the second round but P Kashyap and P V Sindhu advanced to the quarterfinals of the India Open Super Series in New Delhi on Thursday.
India's campaign in the women's singles came to an early end at the US $500,000 Malaysia Super Series Premier badminton tournament after Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu lost their second round matches, in Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday. While Olympic bronze medallist Saina went down narrowly to lower-ranked Yao Xue of China 21-16, 10-21, 19-21 in 56 minutes, Sindhu was beaten by sixth seed Yeon Ju Bae of Korea 16-21, 19-21 in 45 minutes at the Putra Stadium.
A profligate defending champion Saina Nehwal faltered at the final hurdle, failing to complete a hat-trick of titles at the Indonesia Open Super Series after losing to Chinese world number three Yihan Wang in the final in Jakarta on Sunday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances