Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal clinched her second Super Series title, winning the Singapore Open with a straight-game triumph over qualifier Tzu Ying Tai in the final on Sunday. The top seed Indian ace needed just 33 minutes to beat Chinese Taipei's Tai 21-18, 21-15 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
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.
P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth continued their impressive run at the Malaysia Open, progressing to the semi-finals of the women's and men's singles competition with a straight-game wins in the US$ 700,000 world tour super 750 tournament, in Kuala Lumpur.
Neeraj's gold and three other athletics silver medals, along with Saina Nehwal's badminton singles bronze, propelled India's overall medal count to 41 (8 gold, 13 silver, and 20 bronze).
The 24-year-old from Hyderabad will begin her campaign against China's Li Xuerui, a former Olympic gold medallist and World No 1.
Kidambi Srikanth and two-time bronze medallist P V Sindhu will headline a 21-member Indian contingent as they gun for the elusive gold medal at the World Badminton Championships starting in Glasgow on Monday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal was on course for her third consecutive Swiss Open title as she stormed into the semi-finals of the Grand Prix Gold tournament after thrashing Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei in Basel.
Saina Nehwal sailed into the quarter-finals with a straight games victory, but it was curtains for Parupalli Kashyap and P V Sindhu in the second round of the Korea Open Super Series Premier, in Seoul, on Thursday. London Olympics bronze medallist Saina needed 36 minutes to beat Mingtian Fu of Indonesia 21-16, 21-9 in a women's singles match at the SK Handball stadium.
Title contender and Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal stormed into the quarter-finals of the women's single competition at the All England Badminton Championships with a straight-set victory over her Chinese Taipei opponent in Birmingham.
Still smarting from her second-round exit in Denmark last week, Saina Nehwal will seek redemption when she starts her campaign at the French Open Super series, which begins with the qualifiers at Paris on Tuesday.
Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Anand Pawar advanced to the second round of the Denmark Open Super Series after contrasting victories in the opening round of the main draw at Odense on Wednesday. Fourth seed Saina beat Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 21-16, 21-8 in a 31-minute clash in the women's singles, while Anand saw off Pablo Abian 21-11, 21-12 in the men's singles.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal overcame a jittery start to defeat spirited Korean Seung Hee Bae and enter the second round of the All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham.
Manjit Singh came from nowhere to snatch the men's 800m gold for the biggest medal of his life but finals continued to be a riddle for P V Sindhu
India's chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand admitted to crammed BWF itinerary causing a problem but at the same time believes that onus is on a player of PV Sindhu's calibre to adapt to the calendar instead of complaining about it. Apart from the World Championships gold, Sindhu failed to win any other tournament last year.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday.
Hailing Pusarla V Sindhu's excellent show right through 2016 that saw her becoming the first and only Indian shuttler to win a silver medal in the Olympic Games, chief national coach P Gopichand said his lanky ward is capable of scaling greater heights. "I have always maintained that even when she won in 2013 or 2014 (back-to-back world championship singles bronze medals) Sindhu is still some time away from being her best. I maintain that even now that she has the potential to do even better," said the former All-England men's singles champion during an interaction with the media in Mumbai.
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.
Sindhu goes down fighting in All England semisSindhu goes down fighting in All England semis
After losing seven successive finals, PV Sindhu finally redeemed herself with the gold medal at the World Tour Finals.
The Rio Olympic silver-medallist knocked out defending champion Nozomi Okuharabeat 21-17, 21-19 to advance.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal upstaged Korea's Sung Ji Hyun to reach the semi-finals but it was curtains for P V Sindhu in the women's singles of the India Open Super Series, in New Delhi, on Friday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
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.
H S Prannoy scored his second successive victory over three-time Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei, while Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth also registered contrasting wins to advance to the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open Super Series Premier, in Odense, on Thursday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Virat Kohli? M C Mary Kom? Neeraj Chopra?
A summary of sports events and persons in the news over the weekend.
Indian challenge ended at the Asia Badminton Championship with Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu suffering three-game defeats in the quarter-finals of the continental championship in Wuhan.
As the curtains come down at the Tokyo Olympics, here's a glance at the medallists and those who came within touching distance of glory.
Saina Nehwal's wish to be in her home team came true as Hyderabad Hotshots bought the Indian star for USD 120,000 but world number one Lee Chong Wei proved to be the costliest, going to Mumbai Masters for USD 135,000 in the inaugural Indian Badminton League's players auction on Monday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
Twice World Championships bronze medalist P V Sindhu ran out of steam and was beaten by Korea's Sung Ji Hyun in the quarter-finals of badminton's showpiece event, in Jakarta, on Friday. The 20-year-old from Hyderabad, who had beaten Olympic champion and former world No 1 Li Xuerui of China in the previous round on Thursday, lost 17-21, 21-19, 21-16 in 82 minutes.
World No. 1 Saina Nehwal started her campaign with a hard-fought win, while P V Sindhu eased past her opponent at the $200,000 Badminton Asia Championship.
Indian teen sensation P V Sindhu made sure of a second consecutive bronze medal at the World Badminton Championships, but it was curtains for Saina Nehwal after she was beaten in straight games in the women's singles quarter-finals at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen on Friday.
Four years after a bronze at London Games made her the toast of the nation, Saina Nehwal will once again carry a billion hopes when she along with the other six shuttlers, including doubles exponent Jwala Gutta, begin their campaign at the Rio Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, on Thursday.
Pullela Gopichand salutes P V Sindhu on her superb showing that saw her return with a silver medal from the Rio Olympics.
When it boils down to matters of discipline, Pullela Gopichand has no peers with PV Sindhu learning it the hard way since her formative years at the legendary coach's academy.
