Indian shuttlers endured a disappointing day at the China Open Super Series Premier with star player Saina Nehwal going down in the women's singles second round while Parupalli Kashyap crashed out of the men's singles competition in Shanghai.
India's No 1 shuttler Saina Nehwal has been seeded fifth and compatriot P V Sindhu ninth in the women's singles at the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In the men's draw, Kidambi Srikanth, who is ranked world No 11, is seeded ninth.
Saina Nehwal underwent a scan to diagnose her Achilles tendon problems and has been prescribed rest for a couple of weeks.
Seasoned Indian ace Saina Nehwal and the fast-rising H S Prannoy notched up contrasting wins in the women's and men's singles competition respectively to reach the All England badminton championships' second round at Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham.
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.
Shuttler PV Sindhu raised serious hopes of breaking India's long-awaited medal quest in the Rio Olympics by storming into the semifinals of the women's singles event with a stunning straight games win over London Games silver medallist Wang Yihan of China.
Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal entered the second round of women's singles with a comfortable victory but P V Sindhu suffered an upset defeat in the opening round to crash out of the US $750,000 Australian Open Super Series badminton tournament in Sydney on Wednesday. In men's singles, India's Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma made the second round with contrasting victories, but it was curtains for qualifier R M V Gurusaidutt as he failed to cross the first round hurdle. Saina, who had won the Australian Open title in 2014, hardly broke a sweat in her opening round game as she outplayed Joy Lai of Australia with a dominating 21-10 21-14 win in just 29 minutes. The seventh seeded Indian will clash with Malaysia's Jin Wei Goh in the second round. However, World No. 10 Sindhu was stunned by South Korea's Kim Hyo Min, ranked 40th in the world, 15-21 19-21 after a 55-minute battle.
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.
'I would rate myself as the hardest working player, but I need to improve a lot technique-wise' 'Definitely, I want to do well and win another medal. But, it's not that easy'
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu scored contrasting victories to enter the third round of the women's singles at the World Badminton Championships in Guangzhou on Wednesday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton tournament in Basel.
Olympic bronze medal winning shuttler Saina Nehwal has been handed a relatively easy draw in the women's singles section at the upcoming World Badminton Championships, scheduled to be held in Guangzhou from August 5 to 11.
Saina Nehwal eschews the 'natural talent' tag thrust upon her by Indian media and says only hard graft and good coaching have given her the chance to turn the Olympic badminton bronze she won four years ago in London into gold at the Rio Games.
Seven Indian shuttlers, including Saina Nehwal and Jwala Gutta, officially earned qualification berths for the August Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after the much-awaited BWF world rankings were released on Thursday. Friday's rankings were used to determine the Olympic qualifiers in each of the five categories -- men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles -- from the points accumulated in the period between May 4, 2015 and May 1st, 2016. Four years ago, five Indians had qualified at London Olympics. This year, London Olympics bronze medallist Saina would be representing India in her third Games, while the women's doubles pair of Jwala and Ashwini Ponnappa will also play their second Olympics in August. Besides, K Srikanth and P V Sindhu earned their maiden Olympic berths in men's singles and women's events respectively. For the first time, India will have two women's singles players playing in the Olympics.
Adapting quickly to playing conditions at the Rio Olympics will pose the biggest challenge for players, says Saina Nehwal, who is aiming to better the badminton bronze she won in London four years ago.
World Championship silver-medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal is aiming to remain injury-free and excel in all the Super Series tournaments in the run up to next year's Rio Olympics.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal sealed a semi-final spot after a hard-fought victory but compatriot P V Sindhu crumbled under pressure to bow out of the women's singles competition at the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier tournament, in Shah Alam, on Friday.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal created history on Saturday by becoming the first Indian singles player to reach the summit clash of the BWF Super Series Finals after defeating Tine Baun of Denmark during the semi-finals in Liuzhou in China.
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal was beaten in straight games by world number one Yihan Wang in the women's singles semifinals at the London Olympics on Friday but remained in the medal hunt as she will be competing in the bronze medal play-off.
A profligate defending champion Saina Nehwal faltered at the final hurdle, failing to complete a hat-trick of titles at the Indonesia Open Super Series after losing to Chinese world number three Yihan Wang in the final in Jakarta on Sunday.
Saina Nehwal is better equipped to win a medal in Rio in August than the Indian shuttler was when she claimed a bronze at the London Olympics four years ago, former All England champion Prakash Padukone said.
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.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal, who had a disappointing Asian Games, rose a rung to reclaim a career-high second spot after 13 weeks in the latest Badminton World Federation rankings.
In a shock for Indian fans, star shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap fell by the wayside after losing their respective singles matches at the 17th Asian Games on Friday.
Saina Nehwal defeated China's Sun Yu 11-21, 21-14, 21-19 to clinch her second Australian Open Grand Prix Gold title.
Saina Nehwal continued her consistent run in international circuit, reaching yet another semi-final at the $ 200,000 Asia Badminton Championship, in Wuhan, China, on Friday.
India's campaign came to a premature halt in the All-England Badminton Championship when ace shuttler Saina Nehwal was thrashed by Chinese Shixian Wang in the quarter-finals of the women's singles in Birmingham on Friday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal booked her place in the finals of the Denmark Super Series Premier tournament after world number one opponent Yihan Wang of China retired midway through the semi-final clash because of a knee injury.
Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal set up a semifinal clash against old nemesis and World No. 1 Yihan Wang of China after easing past local hope Tine Baun in straight games at the Denmark Open badminton tournament in Odense, Denmark.
Take a look at what fit-again Saina needs to do before going into the Olympic Games in August this year.
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal exited from the China Masters Super Series, but the top mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju kept the tricolour fluttering after a thrilling victory to advance to the semi-finals at Changzhou on Friday.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal survived a mighty scare from unheralded Ayane Kurihara of Japan before advancing to the quarter-finals of China Masters Super Series badminton tournament in Changzhou on Thursday. The fifth seed Indian won 21-11, 18-21, 27-25 in a marathon women's singles encounter that lasted 72 minutes, at the Xincheng Gymnasium.
Two-time champion Saina Nehwal staged a grand recovery to beat fourth seeded Xuerui Li of China in the final to win the Indonesia Open Super Series badminton tournament in Jakarta on Sunday. The World No. 5 Indian shuttler, who won the title back-to-back in 2009 and 2010, prevailed 13-21, 22-20, 21-19 in 70 minutes to claim her second title in two weeks, having won the Thailand Open Grand Prix last week.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal failed to sustain her impressive touch as she suffered a straight-game defeat at the hands of world No 1 Yihan Wang of China in the semi-final of the Malaysian Open Super Series, in Kuala Lumpur.
Indian mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju squandered a game lead to go down fighting against Korean duo Yeon Seong Yoo and Ye Na Jang in the semi-final of the China Masters Super Series at Changzhou on Saturday.
Ace Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal has become the World No 2 according to the lastest rankings and is just behind current World No 1 Yihan Wang of China.
Upbeat over winning the China Open and moving up to the fourth spot in the latest BWF rankings, star shuttler Saina Nehwal says she is working on becoming the best in the world.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal survived a scare from Hye Youn Hwang of Korea before reaching the semi-finals of the Indonesian Open Super Series in Jakarta on Friday. The world No 8 Indian ace beat the 18th-ranked Hwang 21-7, 13-21, 21-15 in a tough women's singles quarter-final that lasted 45 minutes. Sixth-seed Saina next faces seventh seeded Chinese Lan Lu in the Saturday's semi-finals.
'I didn't think before the start of the Olympics that I would make it to the final and win a medal.' 'I just thought of going there and giving my best, taking one match at a time.'
P V Sindhu had things her way before making it to the quarter-finals in the women's singles badminton competition with a 21-13, 21-15 victory over Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying at the Rio Olympics on Monday night.
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