India will take on traditional powerhouse China in the final match on Wednesday.
'The Indian badminton team has scripted history'
Indian ace shuttler Ajay Jayaram's gallant fight ended in a defeat in the opening match as Indian men's team suffered a 1-3 loss against Thailand in their campaign-opener at the Thomas Cup badminton tournament, in Kunshun, on Sunday.
Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap, Sameer Verma and the mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa notched thrilling victories to enter the quarter-finals of the India Open Super 500 World Tour badminton tournament in Delhi on Thursday.
'We haven't finished the tournament and we want to go all the way'
Prannoy signs off with maiden World Championships bronze medal after losing semifinal to Vitidsarn
India ace Kidambi Srikanth was rewarded for his sensational run this season as he grabbed a career-best ranking of World No. 2 after jumping two places in the latest BWF ranking released on Thursday.
The Badminton Association of India are hoping to finalise the duo's appointments by the end of this month.
None of the other three quarters boast of such a strong star cast but there would be a few mouth-watering opening round clashes to look forward to.
Was it badminton sensation PV Sindhu, who became the first Indian to win the World Championships gold medal? Or is it the young shooting progidy Saurabh Chaudhary? Or his India colleague Elavenil Valarivan, who recently took over as World No 1? What about India's heroes on the cricketing field -- Virat Kohli? Rohit Sharma?
Saina, who has been battling illness and injuries, is going through a bad patch, having lost six times in the first round this season.
How India's athletes fared on Day 1 of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
India's Lakshya Sen secured his maiden Super 500 title by winning the Yonex-Sunrise India Open with a stunning straight-game victory over reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the men's singles final in New Delhi on Sunday.
An Indian team which is a nice little blend of youth and experience, will have to punch above its weight in what's going to be an arduous challenge in the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships here on Sunday.
The World No 6 will next face Spain's Pablo Abian on Wednesday.
HS Prannoy started his campaign at the World Championship in style beating New Zealand's Abhinav Manota in straight games to enter the second round.
Saina squandered a game advantage to lose 21-16, 11-21, 14-21 against Takahashi
London Olympics bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal resumed training at a separate facility in Hyderabad after the COVID-19-induced break and is likely to join the national camp at the Sports Authority of India-Pullela Gopichand Academy in a couple of weeks.
India's decision to field World No 13 Sameer instead of Kidambi Srikanth in men's singles backfired as the former couldn't get going against Lee Zii Jia, losing 13-21, 15-21 in 48 minutes to allow Malaysia level the scores 1-1 after getting the lead with a win the mixed doubles.
Satwik-Chirag dished out a gritty performance to outwit the local favourites a
India had won the mixed team gold at 2018 CWG for the first time and Chirag feels they can repeat the performance this year too.
PM Modi met in person and interacted with the badminton squad
Chirag and Satwik had a successful 2019, when the duo won a maiden Super 500 title at Thailand Open and then reached the finals of the French Open Super 750 event. Their consistent show was rewarded with a world No. 10 spot.
Experienced drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh returned to India's men's hockey team, which also features debutant Jaskaran Singh, for the tour of Australia, starting May 10.
Lakshya Sen recorded another comfortable win but double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth had to work hard to enter the semi-finals
World no 10 men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, however, are expected to face a stiff challenge in the league stage.
Young men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty too entered the quarter-finals after getting past Chinese Taipei's Liao Min Chun and Su Ching Heng 21-17, 21-16 in the second round.
The prestigious awards recognise the achievements of the elite badminton players
Sindhu yet again struggled to buck the trend of early exits
Fourth seeded Srikanth, who had claimed a silver medal at this year's Commonwealth Games, had to dig deep in his reservoir to outwit fellow Indian H S Prannoy 18-21, 30-29, 21-18 in a thrilling match, clocking an hour and seven minutes.
Verma who had shocked Malaysia's eighth seed Lee Zii Jia in the opening round, needed just 39 minutes to see off Gemke
Srikanth held a 4-1 record over Prannoy coming into this match, but the shuttler was unable to deliver. Srikanth won the first game 21-13, but Prannoy won the second set comprehensively.
Sindhu, seeded fifth, slugged it out for one hour and two minutes to get the better of Blichfeldt
India has entered the final of the Thomas Cup for the first time since the tournament began 73 years back.
World champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn crashed out of the India Open Super 750 badminton tournament
National camp to resume on Monday.
Prannoy and Sen played five times in 2022 with Sen coming into the match with a slender 3-2 advantage.
Fifth seeded Sindhu, who made early exits from China and Korea last month, has been pitted against Michelle Li, who remains a tricky customer despite the fact that Sindhu has a 5-2 head-to-head record against the world no 9 Canadian.
India's HS Prannoy showed nerves of steel, advancing to his third successive quarterfinals at the World Championships.
The celebration of this historic feat was not yet over when Indian shuttlers scripted yet another jaw-dropping show in Birmingham, returning with six medals, including three golds, a silver and two bronze medals in August.
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