Two-time bronze medallist, P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth started their campaign at the World Badminton Champion with contrasting victories in the women's and men's singles competition respectively in Jakarta.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal's poor form in the international arena continued as she lost to Japan's Minatsu Mitani 21-19, 22-24, 19-21 in a hard-fought three-game battle in her opening match of the BWF Superseries Finals in Kuala Lumpur.
Newly-crowned world No. 1 Saina Nehwal edged out China's Sun Yu to reach the women's singles semi-finals of the $8500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur.
Far from mourning the end of her brief reign as the World No 1, shuttler Saina Nehwal is happy.
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.
Saina Nehwal feels the year going by is one of the best of her career but rued that a series of injuries affected her chances of winning more titles.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal feels that year 2015 is one of the best of her career but rued that a series of injuries affected her chances of winning more titles.
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.
National badminton coach Pullela Gopichand remained tightlipped about his split with Saina Nehwal, saying he doesn't want to talk about the issue as the Asian Games is just round the corner.
India's top shuttler Saina Nehwal has split with National coach Pullela Gopichand and sought the help of former chief coach Vimal Kumar to prepare for the prestigious Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
This year's All-England Championships is likely to mark the final appearance of five-time champion Lin Dan at the sport's oldest event, as the garlanded Chinese player bids for a berth at the Rio Olympics before a possible retirement.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal bowed out of the $250,000 India Open Super Series after a straight games defeat to world No 2 Yihan Wang in the quarter-finals of the women's singles at the Siri Fort complex in Delhi on Friday.
Saina Nehwal defeated 2011 World champion and 2012 Olympic silver medallist Yihan Wang 21-8, 21-12 in just over half an hour in the semi-finals.
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.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal entered the pre-quarterfinals but it turned out to be a disastrous day for the men with all of them, including reigning champion K Srikanth, failing to cross the opening hurdle at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super Series badminton.
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.
In an interview with PTI, the Hyderabadi also reveals why she parted ways with the former All England champion and throws light on the Padma controversy.
London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal scripted history by reaching the finals of the prestigious All England Badminton Championship with a straight-game victory over Sun Yu of China in the women's singles competition in Birmingham.
A foot injury early in the year derailed her plans but ace Indian shuttler P V Sindhu is happy to make a successful comeback with a good performance at the Denmark Super Series Premier and a third successive Macau Grand Prix Gold title.
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.
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.
Take a look at what fit-again Saina needs to do before going into the Olympic Games in August this year.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Check out the gold medallists on Friday, Day 14 of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Leander Paes... Sania Mirza... Pankaj Advani.. Saina Nehwal... Ravichandran Ashwin... Anirban Lahiri... Vijender Singh... Who is India's Sportsperson of 2015?
Making their first appearance in the WTA Finals in Singapore, Sania Mirza and Cara Black outplayed Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears in their opening match to book their semi-finals berth on Thursday.
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