Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will spearhead the women's challenge in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games while London Olympics bronze winner Saina Nehwal did not expectedly feature in the squads.
Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu cruised past Evgeniya Kosetskaya of Russia in the opening round of the Fuzhou China Open on Tuesday.
Indian Mithun Manjunath stunned fourth seed and world number seven Kean Yew Loh of Singapore in the opening round while PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth secured straight-game wins.
This was the third title for the Indian duo -- they had clinched the Abu Dhabi Masters Super 100 and Nantes International Challenge this year.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu and National champion Sameer Verma began the new season on a resounding note by winning the women's and men's singles crowns respectively at the USD 120,000 Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Lucknow on Sunday.
They would only be allowed in the academy after they produce COVID-19 negative certificate, the SAI said in a release.
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.
A sensational run over the last two weeks has given wings to Ashwini Ponnappa's Olympics dreams, and the ace Indian shuttler now wants to continue her fine run in the upcoming bigger tournaments to stay on course for a trip to Paris.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on the fifth day of the Asian Games.
Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth's wretched run continued as he went down 6-21, 17-21 to fellow-Indian Ajay Jayaram, diminishing his hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo Games.
Lakshya Sen and Saina Nehwal made impressive starts at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament, advancing to the second round of men's and women's singles respectively with contrasting victories in Jakarta on Wednesday.
It was yet another forgettable outing in Tokyo for Praneeth, following his struggles at last year's Olympic Games where he participated without a proper coach or physio to eventually bow out early.
Sindhu was made to toil hard by China's He Bing Jiao
Sindhu is the only Indian to feature in the women's singles competition.
A much-anticipated second round meeting of India's top two women shuttlers, world No 1 Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu, failed to materiliaze as the latter came a cropper in her opening match at the Japan Open Super Series badminton tournament, in Tokyo, on Wednesday.
The top seeded Indian duo, who reached the semi-finals of the season-opening Malaysia Open super 1000, was scheduled to face Chinese Taipei's Su Ching Heng and Ye Hong Wei in the opening round.
Besides Srikanth, the other players withdrawn are Ashwini Ponnappa, Ritika Rahul Thkar, Treesa Jolly, Mithun Manjunath, Simran Aman Singh and Khushi Gupta.
Srikanth, now ranked five, was placed seventh before the Malaysia Open, where he lost his last-four clash to the reigning Asian champion Kento Momota.
Prannoy reached the World Championships on previous two occassions.
India's top woman shuttler was given a scare by 15-year-old Sikki Reddy before posting a 23-21, 22-20 victory on the fifth and penultimate day of the Commonwealth Youth Games.
Saina Nehwal, who won a bronze at the World Championship, jumped four rungs to be placed at the 12th spot, while Kidambi Srikanth also improved two positions in the latest BWF World ranking.
Sindhu made short work of fifth seed Michelle Li of Canada 21-10, 21-19 in 36 minutes
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Harshit Aggarwal defeated Mongolia's Batdavaa Munkhbat 21-15, 21-13 to be pitted against Japan's third seed Kodai Naraoka in the third round.
PV Sindhu turned 25 on Sunday as wishes poured in for her across the globe.
India's double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu showed great determination to outwit Japan's Aya Ohori in the women's singles opening round, while B Sai Praneeth and Kidmabi Srikanth also advanced to the men's singles second round of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 event, in Bali, on Wednesday.
PV Sindhu dominated from start to finish and smashed her way into the second round of the prestigious All England Badminton Championships, in Birmingham, on Wednesday.
US Open champion Prannoy, who had reached a career-best World No 11 ranking last week, improved a place further to grab the 10th spot. He has been rewarded for his consistent performance this season where he reached the semi-finals at the Indonesia Open and French Open.
In the men's doubles however, the Indian pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila lost to 11th seeded Russian pair of Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov 11-21, 16-21 in a second round match that lasted 41 minutes.
PV Sindhu cruised into the second round but compatriot Saina Nehwal bowed out fighting in the Badminton Asia Championships.
Sindhu, who is currently competing at the French Open in Paris, jumped one rung to stay one spot behind Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying, who continues to dominate the rankings.
Parupalli Kashyap entered the quarterfinals after top seed and Olympic champion Axelsen gave a walkover.
Defending champion Ajay Jayaram continued his dominant run at the Dutch Open, reaching the semi-finals of the men's singles competition of the $55,000 Grand Prix tournament in Almere, Netherlands.
Seventh seed Sindhu lost 14-21 18-21 to Bing Jiao in the women's singles.
The core of the team remains the same with HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in good form and the Indian team would hope the rub of the green also goes their way when it begins campaign on Thursday.
The 29-year-old Olympic bronze medallist and World No 9 went down 16-21, 23-21, 4-21 to her 19-year-old opponent in the women's singles match.
Star Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal sailed into the second round of the Singapore Open with straight-game wins over their respective rivals in the women's singles event on Wednesday.
Indian contingent has an opportunity to go deep in the draw and recapture the trophy which has been won by just two Indians so far -- the legendary Prakash Padukone (1980) and P Gopichand (2001).
Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth will meet compatriot HS Prannoy in his opening match, while former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap will square off against a qualifier.
India's top shuttlers including Olympic medallist P V Sindhu train under national coach P Gopichand in Hyderabad.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances