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.
Indian pair toiled hard for one hour and 15 minutes to beat their world No 6 Malaysian opponents 18-21, 24-22, 22-20
Sindhu yet again struggled to buck the trend of early exits
Verma who had shocked Malaysia's eighth seed Lee Zii Jia in the opening round, needed just 39 minutes to see off Gemke
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Olympic medallists P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal made a resounding start to their women's singles campaign but it was Sameer Verma who hogged the limelight with a stunning straight-game win over Korean Son Wan Ho in men's event in the opening round of the India Super Series in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Returning to action after a break, India's double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu on Friday bowed out of the Denmark open badminton tournament after losing in straight games to world no 8 Korean An Seyoung in the women's singles quarterfinals in Odense.
Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen will spearhead a strong contingent at the USD 250,000 Swiss Open, beginning on Tuesday, aiming to regain top form.
Nehwal has had a troubled run in this year as she has now faced exits from a tournament in the first round five times.
Sindhu, who had won the silver at the World Championship last month, recovered from a mid-game slump to stave off the challenge from World No. 19 Minatsu Mitani of Japan 21-19, 16-21, 21-10 in a match that lasted 63 minutes.
It is Sindhu's second semifinal of the season, following a last-four finish at the India Open last month.
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.
P V Sindhu breezed into the summit clash of the World Tour Finals for the second successive time after prevailing over 2013 World champion Ratchanok Intanon in a tense semi-final.
SMAT: Haryana beat Bengal to enter Super 8s, Punjab also qualify
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction saw some foreign names earning big bucks, headlined by Aussie all-rounder Cameron Green
Expect some fireworks for the highly-versatile Cameron Green along with Quinton de Kock, Matheesha Pathirana, Venkatesh Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi.
Returning to action after a break, double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu saw off Turkey's Neslihan Yigit in straight games to join compatriots Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma in the second round of the Denmark Open in Odense on Tuesday.
Mumbai off to flourishing start in SMAT, beat Railways by 7 wickets
However, a tough contest awaits the former world No. 1 as he faces top seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan next.
Ahead of the mini-auction, scheduled to be held in Doha on December 26, the 10 franchises have released their list of retained and released players.
Sindhu made short work of fifth seed Michelle Li of Canada 21-10, 21-19 in 36 minutes
Seventh seed Sindhu lost 14-21 18-21 to Bing Jiao in the women's singles.
India's double Olympic medallist superstar PV Sindhu reached the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open Super 1000 tournament in Odense on Thursday after three hard-fought games against her opponent from Thailand.
After six successive losses in 13 meetings, PV Sindhu finally got the better of her nemesis World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying.
Sindhu, who had finished runners-up at the last edition in Dubai, will have a tough task at hand as she has been clubbed with defending champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei and USAs' Beiwen Zhang in Group A.
Sindhu, who had finished runner-up at the last edition in Dubai, dished out a superb game, mixing with patience with aggression, to edging the Japanese 24-22, 21-15.
Sindhu, Sameer progress to quarters, Kashyap ousted
Sindhu was made to toil hard by China's He Bing Jiao
If Sindhu and Saina win their respective second round matches, they will face each other in the quarter-finals.
Ajay Jayaram, who skipped the ongoing Korea Open, slipped a place to be at 17th.
India's top junior shuttler Sameer Verma entered the final of the Asia Youth Under-19 badminton championships after a hard-fought, three-game victory over Liu Kai of China in Lucknow on Friday. The 16-year-old Sameer won 21-19, 15-21, 21-9.
Now all eyes are on the two Super 1000 events -- Yonex Thailand Open (January 12-17) and Toyota Thailand Open (January 19-24) as the world's best return to action following a prolonged break.
This is Saina's first win over the South Korean, who got the better of the Indian in the quarter-finals of the French Open last year.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu continued her unbeaten run while debutant Sameer Verma also qualified for the knockout stage with a straight-game win in his last Group B match at the BWF World Tour Finals.
The Capitals sit pretty at the top with 10 points from six games, while the Titans trail close behind with eight from as many outings.
Sameer Verma stunned World No. 3 Jorgensen to enter the final, while Rio Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu brushed aside local shuttler Cheung Ngan Yi's challenge to make the title round, her second final seven days.
Rio Olympic silver medallist Sindhu, who made early exits at the China Open and Korea Open, dropped to the 6th spot after five months and the former World No 2 shuttler will look to make amends at the Denmark Open and French Open.
Newly-crowned China Open champion P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal entered the quarterfinals of the women's singles competition at the Hong Kong Open Super Series tournament on a fruitful day for Indian shuttlers in Kowloon. Sindhu, who bagged her maiden Super Series Premier title last week at the China Open just months after winning the silver at Rio Olympics, trounced Chinese Taipei's Hsu Ya Ching 21-10 21-14, while Saina dished out a gruelling performance against Japan's Sayaka Sato to edge prevail 21-18 9-21 21-16.
In a men's singles quarter-final match earlier in the day, Sameer Verma too was shown the door after he suffered a 10-21, 12-21 loss to second seed Shi Yuqi of China.
The top Indian players, including Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Srikanth have failed to lift the prestigious trophy
