The Indian challenge ended at the Asia Badminton Championship after Saina Nehwal and H S Prannoy went down fighting in the singles semi-finals, in Wuhan, on Saturday.
China, who have yet to lose a single badminton match to another nation at the Tokyo Olympics, won gold and silver in mixed doubles on Friday after Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping beat favourites Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong 21-17, 17-21, 21-19.
World number one Kento Momota was stunned by number 38 South Korea's Heo Kwanghee on Wednesday, going down 15-21, 19-21 and looking visibly despondent at each lost point in his first round match at the Olympics, on Wednesday.
Olympic medallist PV Sindhu yet again finished second-best in a major final but grabbed a historic individual silver medal at the Asian Games after losing the women's singles title clash to world number one Tai Tzu-Ying in Jakarta on Tuesday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who is returning from an ankle injury, begins her campaign against former World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the first round of Malaysia Open.
India's Tokyo Paralympics gold winner Pramod Bhagat was on Thursday named among six shuttlers for the Male Para Badminton Player of the Year by the sport's world body but none of his compatriots featured in the able-bodied awards' categories.
Sindhu seeks improvement on fitness, defence in se
Saina Nehwal scripted a remarkable victory over reigning World Champion Carolina Marin to turn around her campaign at the BWF Super Series Finals even as Srikanth faced exit after suffering his second straight loss in the men's singles in Dubai.
Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out in the quarter-finals of the French Open after suffering straight-game defeats in their respective matches as India's campaign ended in the singles events.
Defending champion Kidambi Srikanth beat compatriot Sameer Verma 22-20, 19-21, 23-21 in an absorbing men's singles quarter-final to enter the semi-finals of the Denmark Open, in Odense, on Friday night. The Indian ace will meet second seeded Japanese and world No 1 Kento Momota, who got the better of Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab 21-13, 21-9 in another quarter-final.
Sindhu will face either Spain's three-time world champion Carolina Marin or Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei next.
Home favourites Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down in a tense final against world champions Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Sang Jae at India Open, settling for their second successive runners-up finish, in New Delhi on Sunday.
Saina Nehwal's semi-final jinx continued as she suffered another defeat against her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women's singles at the Malaysia Super Series Premier, in Shah Alam, on Saturday.
Double Olympic medallist, Sindhu faces top seed and World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals. Ying beat Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour 21-10, 19-21, 21-11 to advance.
Kidambi Srikanth continued his good run as he routed Kenta Nishimoto 21-14, 21-13 in the final to clinch the French Open Super Series title on Sunday.
China draws blank in Asiad badminton singles as rivals improve
Sindhu, Saina advance to 2nd round; Reddy-Ponnappa out
'If I want to achieve something -- and my aim is to achieve the Olympic gold -- then I would do anything for it. It means everything to me.'
Saina Nehwal crashed out of the All England Championship after her gallant fight against World No. 3 Korean Sung Ji Hyun ended with a narrow 20-22, 20-22 loss in the women's singles quarter-finals of the Super Series Premier event in Birmingham.
The win ensured Srikanth's dominance over his younger countrymate as he took his head-to-head record to 3-0 over Lakshya.
Reigning World champion P V Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth were handed easy group stage outings in the badminton draws unveiled on Thursday for the Tokyo Olympics, starting on July 23.
India's campaign at the All England Badminton Championships came to a disappointing end with Saina Nehwal, B Sai Praneeth, Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma all exiting from the tournament in Birmingham on Friday.
The Birmingham showpiece will be held from July 28 to August 8.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina beat Tunjung 21-11, 21-12 in a one-sided semifinal match that lasted just 30 minutes.
Sindhu lost 7-21, 11-21 to World No. 3 Okuhara in a lop-sided contest.
World champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and Chinese Taipei's No 1 shuttler Tai Tzu Ying will be up for grabs when the high-profile Players' Auction for the lucrative Premier Badminton League gets underway in Hyderabad on Monday.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on the ninth day of the Asian Games, on Monday.
The prestigious awards recognise the achievements of the elite badminton players
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 third seeded Indian will face the winner of the other semi-final, between Japan's Aya Ohori and China's Wang Zhi Yi, on Sunday.
Ace Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal on Thursday stormed into the quarter-finals of the All England Open Badminton Championships after their straight-game victories over their respective opponents in the women's singles event in Birmingham.
The World No 25 pair of Satwiksairaj and Chirag put a gallant fight in the second game but couldn't stop the two-time All England Champions from Indonesia, going down 12-21, 24-26 in a 42-minute match.
Kidambi Srikanth continued his fine form to enter the men's singles semi-finals but Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu bowed out of the Australian Open Super Series badminton tournament in Sydney, on Friday.
PV Sindhu will open her campaign against South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun, while Saina Nehwal takes on Scotland's Kristy Gilmour in the first round.
The men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their impressive run, progressing to the semi-finals with another stunning victory, but it was curtains for Saina Nehwal at the US $700,000 French Open, in Paris, on Friday.
Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu hopes the Commonwealth Games will serve as a perfect launchpad in her quest to regain the World Championships crown next month.
He is known to be a demanding coach but Pullela Gopichand is of the opinion that Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu's odd defeats can't be termed as her failure, not even by a single per cent.
Fresh from their Korea Open triumph, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will look to continue their dream run.
Sindhu and Saina will once again be India's best bet as they look to put up a good show this week.
