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.
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.
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.
If Sindhu and Saina win their respective second round matches, they will face each other in the quarter-finals.
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.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu survived some tense moments before progressing to the women's singles second round, but it was curtains for Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth in the men's singles at the Badminton Asia Championships, in Ningbo, China, on Wednesday.
Unnati won 21-18, 21-11 to be crowned the Odisha Open champion for the first time.
Prannoy will take on Rajawat in the second round.
Tasnim Mir, who earlier this month became the first Indian to claim world number one status in the U-19 category, beat Keyura Mopati 13-21, 21-14, 21-19 to set up a second round clash against Malvika Bansod.
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.
Indian women beat Thailand 3-2 in final, clinch historic gold in Badminton Asia Team Championships
Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will look to arrest their slump in form when they begin their campaign at the Australia Open badminton tournament in Sydney on Tuesday.
Besides Srikanth, the other players withdrawn are Ashwini Ponnappa, Ritika Rahul Thkar, Treesa Jolly, Mithun Manjunath, Simran Aman Singh and Khushi Gupta.
The star Indian pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be the key attraction in the men's doubles category. However, they are set to face a stiff competition as the line-up includes the three-time world champion and world No. 2 Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan alongside another Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, who are currently ranked eighth in the world.
Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu stormed into the second round of the women's singles in the Syed Modi International Super 300 badminton tournament after a dominating victory over compatriot Tanya Hemanth, in Lucknow, on Wednesday.
Two players withdrawn from India Open due to COVID-19
Satwik has been working with sport & performance psychologist Shree Advani
Fresh from their Korea Open triumph, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will look to continue their dream run.
India will take on traditional powerhouse China in the final match on Wednesday.
Kidambi Srikanth scored a stunning straight-games victory over world No. 4 Lee Zii Jia but Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen suffered a shock defeat in the opening round of the Japan Open Super 750 badminton tournament, in Osaka, on Wednesday.
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.
How India's athletes fared on Day 1 of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
20-year-old Malvika Bansod, ranked 111th, took 34 minutes to register a straight games victory against former World No 1 Saina Nehwal.
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
Defending champion Lakshya Sen looked in fine fettle as he registered a straight-game win over compatriot H S Prannoy to make a winning start to his title defence at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super 750 badminton tournament, in Delhi, on Tuesday.
The World No 11 Srikanth will take on China's Lu Guang Zu in the next round.
Sindhu ended a rally with a forehand smash on Goh's left to make it 21-20 before the Malaysian netted a return.
Already through to the quarter-finals, defending champions India continued their rampaging run as they beat Australia 4-1 in their final group A match of mixed team competition at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
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.
India's campaign at the Sudirman Cup came to an end as they went down to Malaysia in the second Group C match.
India's HS Prannoy showed nerves of steel, advancing to his third successive quarterfinals at the World Championships.
Former World No 1 Saina, the London Olympics bronze medallist, lost 14-21, 21-17, 17-21 to World No 2 Yamaguchi in a 50-minute women's singles clash.
His backhand blocks and forehand low returns reaped dividends but an alert Gemke managed to grab a four-point cushion at the interval.
Expectations from the Indian male shuttlers will also be high, given their exploits in recent months.
A summary of Indian athletes' performances on Sunday, August 7, Day 10 of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Sen became only the third men's singles player after Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand to reach the final
Indian athletes' performance on Day 9 of the Commonwealth Games.
Rediff.com introduces you to the athletes who have brought India glory in Birmingham.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
'Badminton at this level is a mental game.' 'Often just one or two points makes the deficit and often it's upstairs on the first floor that these things happen.'
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