Saina Nehwal bounced back from a game down to beat Yoshimi Hataya in the second round of the Yonex Korea Open.
Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal opens her campaign in the India Open World Super Series tournament against Asian Games bronze medallist Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong. The event, which begins in Delhi on April 24, will double up as the final qualifying meet for the London Olympics.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
India will be sending full teams for the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold (May 30-June 4), Indonesia Open Super Series (June 12-18) and Australian Open Super Series (June 20-25).
World No 2 Saina Nehwal suffered a crushing defeat in Awadhe Warriors' Trump match as Mumbai Rockets stormed into the finals with an emphatic 3-0 win in the second semifinals of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) at the Gachibowli indoor stadium, in Hyderabad, on Friday.
Fresh from her maiden Denmark Open title triumph, India ace Saina Nehwal started her French Open Super Series campaign in style, registering a hard-fought win over China's Li Han in women's singles event in Paris.
Saina Nehwal's preparation for the 2012 London Games received a shot in the arm on Saturday with the ace shuttler signing a contract with Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ).
The biggest upset of the day was produced by Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi, who knocked out Olympic champion and last year's finalist Carolina Marin 21-12, 21-19, in a 48-minute clash.
Saina Nehwal will spearhead the Indian challenge in the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold, beginning in Johar Bahru on Wednesday. The second seed faces world No 39 Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand in her opening match in the women's singles.
Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal entered the second round of women's singles with a comfortable victory but P V Sindhu suffered an upset defeat in the opening round to crash out of the US $750,000 Australian Open Super Series badminton tournament in Sydney on Wednesday. In men's singles, India's Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma made the second round with contrasting victories, but it was curtains for qualifier R M V Gurusaidutt as he failed to cross the first round hurdle. Saina, who had won the Australian Open title in 2014, hardly broke a sweat in her opening round game as she outplayed Joy Lai of Australia with a dominating 21-10 21-14 win in just 29 minutes. The seventh seeded Indian will clash with Malaysia's Jin Wei Goh in the second round. However, World No. 10 Sindhu was stunned by South Korea's Kim Hyo Min, ranked 40th in the world, 15-21 19-21 after a 55-minute battle.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal won her second match to keep her semi-final hopes alive while the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju also tasted victory to stay afloat in the World Super Series Masters Final in Johor Bahru, Malaysia on Thursday.
India's leading shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of the All-England badminton championships, losing to China's Li Xuerui in the quarter-finals in Birmingham on Friday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal sailed into the Korea Open Super Series quarter-finals after notching up a straight games victory over Shao Chieh Cheng of Chinese Taipei in the second round.
Saina Nehwal shrugged off the disappointment of last week's Japan Open debacle and spanked Japanese Ai Goto in straight games to cruise into the quarter-finals of the China Masters Super Series in Changzhou, China, on Thursday. India's 18-year-old national champion won a lop-sided contest, that lasted just 21 minutes, 21-12, 21-10.
Riding on her stupendous performance at the Australian Open Super Series, Indian ace Saina Nehwal jumped two places to reach the World No. six in the latest BWF ranking released on Thursday. The 26-year-old from Hyderabad, who clinched the Australian Open title -- her first of the season - last Sunday, now has 75,369 points in her kitty.
Saina Nehwal and the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju were the first Indians to enter the quarter-finals in the World Badminton Championships, even though it was curtains for Chetan Anand in the men's singles, in Hyderabad, on Thursday.
Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, P V Sindhu, K Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap reached the second round of Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament after scoring easy victories in Lucknow.
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.
India's top shuttlers have missed his court-side presence this year but national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand says he can't really help cutting down on travelling as that would come in the way of finding the next crop of world-beaters.
Top seed Saina Nehwal survived a scare from little-known local player Nichaon Jindapon before prevailing in three games, in the opening round of the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold in Bangkok on Wednesday. The world No 5 Indian won 21-13, 16-21, 21-15 in 59 minutes, at the Cu Sport Complex.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal stands just a win away from clinching her second title of the year after she stunned World No. 2 Chinese Shixian Wang in a gruelling semi-final of the Star Australian Super Series in Sydney.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal inched closer to a third successive Indonesian Open Super Series badminton title after advancing to the finals with a three-game triumph over Chinese Taipei's Shao Chieh Cheng in Jakarta on Saturday.
Two-time champion and top seed Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu reached the pre-quarterfinals of the $ 120,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold in Basel.
Badminton ace Saina Nehwal reckoned that her team Hyderabad Hotshots will bounce back.
Star shuttler Saina Nehwal is over the moon after being picked up by Hyderabad Hotshots in the inaugural players' auction of the Indian Badminton League in New Delhi on Monday, and said she will give her best to help her team win the upcoming franchise-based event.
Relieved after securing her maiden title of the year, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal said more than her technique and strokeplay, she needs to work on becoming a calmer player as that will improve all other aspects of her game.
India's shuttle queen Saina Nehwal emphatically progressed into the quarterfinals of the World Badminton Championship.
Women dominated this year's Padma awards for sports with tennis star Sania Mirza and ace shuttler Saina Nehwal getting the nod for the Padma Bhushan, while archer Deepika Kumari was chosen for the Padma Shri in New Delhi, on Monday.
Riding on her stupendous performance in the Sudirman Cup, ace Indian women shuttler Saina Nehwal has climbed up three places to the seventh spot in the latest ranking issued by the Badminton World Federation. Saina, who was ranked 10 before the start of the tournament in Guangzhou, won all her four matches and now has a total of 58454.4 rating points in her kitty.
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.
Saina Nehwal scored a hard-fought victory over Eriko Hirose of Japan to enter the quarter-finals in the women's singles at the Singapore Super Series.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal says the draw at the upcoming India Open badminton tournament is tough and progressing in the competition will not be a cakewalk.
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal exited from the China Masters Super Series, but the top mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju kept the tricolour fluttering after a thrilling victory to advance to the semi-finals at Changzhou on Friday.
India's highest ranked shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Chetan Anand crashed out of the All England badminton tournament after suffering contrasting defeats in the first round of the Super series event in London on Wednesday.
M C Mary Kom, who is also a sitting Rajya Sabha MP, said the alarming increase in the number of rapes in the country has left her feeling "hurt and helpless" while star shuttler Saina Nehwal condemned the 'ghastly crimes'.
India's leading badminton player Saina Nehwal has dropped four places to be No 9 in the latest world rankings while P V Sindhu remains No 10 despite winning a silver medal in the Rio Olympics.
Olympic winner and badminton ace Saina Nehwal on how women can go about empowering themselves through rightful education.
'I try to do my own stunts as much as possible.' 'I tried this stunt for Saaho and my foot got stuck. My other leg was stretched in the air.' 'If it had stretched two more inches, there could have been a tear.' 'I was limping for a while, but thankfully, because I have been physically training for Saina, my body is warm all the time.'
Saina Nehwal is a 'champion material' and in another three years, India can look forward to seeing a world number one in the Hyderabadi youngster, said legendary shuttler Prakash Padukone. Padukone, a former All England champion, pointed out that 17-year-old Saina has most of the qualities a champion needs -- physical, technical, mental and self-belief.
Parupalli Kashyap went down fighting to former World No. 1 Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the first round of the men's singles event in what turned out to be a mixed day for the Indians at the Yonex Sunrise India Open in New Delhi.
