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.
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.
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.
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).
Badminton ace Saina Nehwal reckoned that her team Hyderabad Hotshots will bounce back.
India's shuttle queen Saina Nehwal emphatically progressed into the quarterfinals of the World Badminton Championship.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
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.
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.
Saina Nehwal bounced back from a game down to beat Yoshimi Hataya in the second round of the Yonex Korea Open.
H S Prannoy lost in the opening round even as compatriots Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu entered the second round of the $ 350,000 India Open Super 500 tournament, in New Delhi on Wednesday.
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.
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.
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.
Sindhu and compatriot Saina Nehwal have lost 22 matches between them to Tai.
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.
'I would rate myself as the hardest working player, but I need to improve a lot technique-wise' 'Definitely, I want to do well and win another medal. But, it's not that easy'
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.
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.
Bolstered by Australian Open triumph, India ace shuttler Saina Nehwal says she is now working on her half smashes under the watchful eyes of coach Vimal Kumar to get closer to the goal of winning a gold medal at next month's Rio Olympics. "The victory in Australia came at just the right time. I was really looking forward for some change and nothing boosts confidence like winning. I needed a win to keep believing that I am on the right track," the 26-year-old told PTI.
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.
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.
While about 8,000 people are in the long list of invitees, the select list features 506 A-listers, including prominent politicians, leading industrialists, top film stars, sportspersons, diplomats, judges and high priests.
2023 was marked by outstanding sporting achievements, shattered records, and the crowning of new champions, all captured by photographers documenting every significant twist and turn.
Olympic winner and badminton ace Saina Nehwal on how women can go about empowering themselves through rightful education.
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.
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.
Saina Nehwal has gained a place to be fifth in the latest Badminton World Federation women's singles rankings released on Thursday.
Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma also advanced to the second round of the $550,000 tournament at the Barclaycard Arena.
Riding on her stupendous performance in the Sudirman Cup, ace Indian women shuttler Saina Nehwal has climbed up three places to the seventh spot in the latest ranking issued by the Badminton World Federation. Saina, who was ranked 10 before the start of the tournament in Guangzhou, won all her four matches and now has a total of 58454.4 rating points in her kitty.
Top stars Saina Nehwal and Lee Chong Wei were the costliest buys, fetching the maximum prize of 100,000$, while Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth were bought for a whopping 95,000$ and 80,000$ respectively at the rechristened Premier Badminton League (PBL) players' auction on Monday.
India's up-and-coming shuttler P V Sindhu came up with a brilliant performance to shock defending champion Yihan Wang of China and join Saina Nehwal in the women's singles quarter-finals at the World Badminton Championships, at the Tianhe Indoor stadium in Guangzhou, China, on Thursday. Parupalli Kashyap also kept the Indian flag flying in the men's singles, scoring an upset 21-13, 21-16 victory over world No 6 Yun Hu of Hong Kong, in 37 minutes, to also make it to the last eight stage.
Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal clarified that his ministry received the letter of nomination of badminton star Saina Nehwal for the Padma Bhushan on Saturday.
One of the biggest drawbacks of Saina Nehwal's career is her failure to break the Chinese stranglehold. It was the same old story again on Friday, as she went down to China's world No 1 Yihan Wang 21-13, 21-13 in the semi-finals of the women's singles badminton at the London Olympics.
Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal may have hit global headlines with their big wins against China's superstars of badminton but sadly they have not made it into the state-run Chinese media, which played down their herculean achievement.
Marin retained the world title with a 21-16, 21-19 win over the Indian ace.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, who regained the number one spot in international rankings, said it was a big achievement for her.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal touched a new high on Thursday as she zoomed into the top-five of the world rankings at a career-best fifth spot following her stupendous show in the All England Badminton Championships earlier this month.
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.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal inched closer to a third successive Indonesian Open Super Series title after advancing to the finals with a hard-fought victory over Chinese Taipei's Shao Chieh Cheng in Jakarta on Saturday.
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