Sindhu, Saina advance to 2nd round; Reddy-Ponnappa out
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.
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.
Sindhu lost 7-21, 11-21 to World No. 3 Okuhara in a lop-sided contest.
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 prestigious awards recognise the achievements of the elite badminton players
For the first time in the history of badminton, two Indians will clash in a Super Series final with Kidambi Srikanth taking on B Sai Praneeth at the Singapore Open, in Singapore, on Sunday.
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.
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.
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.
Take a look at what fit-again Saina needs to do before going into the Olympic Games in August this year.
China draws blank in Asiad badminton singles as rivals improve
Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out in the group stages after losing their respective second round matches in the BWF World Tour Finals, in Bangkok, on Thursday.
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.
'It is the first time that India badminton player has won two Olympic medals in badminton, so it is a great achievement not only for Sindhu but also a big moment for my teaching life.'
Reigning World champion P V Sindhu on Monday said she was completely blank after winning a second successive Olympic medal and it took her a while to realise the enormity of her historic achievement in the ongoing Games.
Sindhu and Saina will once again be India's best bet as they look to put up a good show this week.
The 16-year-old from Gujarat was rewarded for last year's stellar run, which saw her win titles in three junior international tournaments. It enabled her rise three places and take the top position in the BWF junior rankings.
The other Indian shuttlers who participated in the singles events of the Super 1000 tournament have already left Thailand while the doubles players will fly out on Monday.
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.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on the ninth day of the Asian Games, on Monday.
'Her defence was the one only problem. (Carolina) Marin and Pornpawee (Chochuwong) are good attacking players, they were using a lot of half smash and straight smash, and when Sindhu's defence goes down on a day, it affects her other skills as well, she gets nervous. But now she has improved a lot in her defence as well. Her endurance on the court is also good.'
P V Sindhu said she still has lots to learn and needs to add a few more shots to her repertoire to dominate world badminton.
The 25-year-old Indian, who clinched the Indonesia Open and Australian Open this year, besides reaching the final of the Singapore Open, defeated Wong 21-18, 21-17 at the Odense Sports Park.
Sindhu has said while there will be a lot of expectations on her going into the Tokyo Olympics
Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu continued their winning run at the Malaysia Open notching up contrasting victories to reach the quarter-finals of the women's singles competition at the USD 550,000 Super Series Premier tournament.
After losing the first game, the 24-year-old Indian rebounded strongly to clinch a 15-21, 21-13, 21-13 win over Wan Ho in a gruelling second-round clash that lasted almost an hour.
Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal on Sunday headed for a gold medal showdown at the 18th Asian Games after their quarter-final victories ensured India's first ever women's singles medals at the continental event.
The lack of competitions before the Olympics is a major concern for Indian shuttlers but not so much for PV Sindhu, who trusts her Korean coach Park Tae Sang to create match situations for her in training itself.
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.
Jwala says Sindhu should scan through all the videos of her past matches and work on her strategy.
Sindhu said she has to watch out for the Chinese players as well since they have been missing from the circuit for some time.
Expectations will be sky-high when Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu returns to international circuit this week, spearheading the Indian campaign at Denmark Open Superseries Premier badminton tournament starting in Odense from Tuesday. A slew of felicitation programs kept her busy in the last one and a half month after Sindhu returned from Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first Indian badminton player to win a silver and her legions of fans will expect her to replicate the Olympic success when she competes this week. The sixth-seeded Indian will open her campaign against China's He Bingjiao on Wednesday. Sindhu has been clubbed in the second half of the draw where she might face the likes of second seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, Korean fourth seed Sung Ji Hyun and the tricky Chinese Taipei girl Tai Tzu Ying, seeded fifth.
The Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty shocked reigning World champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan to join P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal in the quarter-finals of the US $750,000 French Open, in Paris, on Thursday.
Two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Saina Nehwal continued her impressive run, progressing into the women's singles semi-finals with a straight-game win over unseeded Korean Lee Jang Mi at the Asia Badminton Championship in Wuhan, on Friday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Assured of atleast a bronze at the World Badminton Championship, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal described her quarterfinal win as "special" and said patience was the key to her success.
The 23-year-old remains India's 'silver girl', having lost finals at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and two world championships before Tuesday's Asian Games title showdown defeat to world number one Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan.
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.
With her silver from Rio, PV Sindhu is already India's most successful female Olympian but her World Championship triumph also boosted the nation's hopes of a medal in Tokyo next year.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances