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.
Indian shuttlers had a relatively good day in office at the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament in Jakarta on Wednesday, with the women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa and the men's team of Manu Attri-B Sumeeth Reddy progressing to the second round.
PV Sindhu turned 25 on Sunday as wishes poured in for her across the globe.
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu cleared first round hurdles in the women's singles with contrasting victories at the Denmark Open Super Series Badminton Premier, in Odense, on Wednesday. In the men's singles, Parupalli Kashyap cruised into the second round, beating Rajiv Ouseph of England 21-15, 21-18.
Indian mixed doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa shocked Commonwealth Games silver medallists England's Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the $ 1 million China Open
Young shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth scored contrasting victories to win the women's and men's singles titles respectively at the 78th Senior National Badminton Championships in Delhi on Monday.
Seventh seed Sindhu lost 14-21 18-21 to Bing Jiao in the women's singles.
Fresh from her triumphant exploits with senior partner Jwala Gutta in the Canadian Open, shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa said the ace Indian doubles pair was now aiming to break into the top ten while qualifying for next year's Rio Olympic Games.
India's Jwala Gutta on Tuesday confirmed she will reunite with former partner Ashwini Ponnappa.
Ajay Jayaram, who skipped the ongoing Korea Open, slipped a place to be at 17th.
The Indian men's team, led by Srikanth, had beaten powerhouse and 14-time champions Indonesia in the final to win the country's maiden Thomas Cup title on Sunday.
Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu cruised past Evgeniya Kosetskaya of Russia in the opening round of the Fuzhou China Open on Tuesday.
It was yet another forgettable outing in Tokyo for Praneeth, following his struggles at last year's Olympic Games where he participated without a proper coach or physio to eventually bow out early.
Top Indian shuttlers, including K Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap in men's singles and P V Sindhu in women's singles, advanced to the second round after easy victories on the first day of the main draw in the Syed Modi International Badminton tournament, in Lucknow, on Wednesday.
The top Indian players, including Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Srikanth have failed to lift the prestigious trophy
Indian contingent has an opportunity to go deep in the draw and recapture the trophy which has been won by just two Indians so far -- the legendary Prakash Padukone (1980) and P Gopichand (2001).
In the mixed doubles event, Satwiksairak Rankreddy and Ashwini Ponnappa started their campaign on a winning note. The duo beat the German combine of Marvin Seidel and Linda Efler in straight games 21-14, 31-19.
India's double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu showed great determination to outwit Japan's Aya Ohori in the women's singles opening round, while B Sai Praneeth and Kidmabi Srikanth also advanced to the men's singles second round of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 event, in Bali, on Wednesday.
After much dilly-dallying, the Sports Ministry has included Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa in the 'Target Olympic Podium Scheme' (TOP) scheme, putting an end to the controversy surrounding the doubles duo's complaint of bias against the Ministry and chief national coach Pullela Gopichand.
Already out of medal contention, India's women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa suffered their third successive loss in their final Group A match against Thailand's Supajirakul Puttita and Taerattanachai Sapsiree in the badminton event.
India have been drawn with top seeds and defending champions China, Thailand and hosts Finland for the upcoming Sudirman Cup badminton tournament, making it a tough Group A for the side to negotiate.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on the fifth day of the Asian Games.
Sindhu suffered a shock defeat to lower-ranked Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei
Sen, who had emulated his mentor Prakash Padukone by winning the World championship bronze in Huelva, Spain last month, will now look to claim the All England Championships in March.
Former world No. 1 Saina, who missed a lot of tournaments last year due to multiple injuries, moved to the second round after her opponent, Czech Republic's Tereza Svabikova, suffered a back injury and retired mid-way while trailing 20-22, 0-1 in an opening round match.
India's H S Prannoy faced stiff resistance before prevailing against local hero Daren Liew to advance to the second round of the Malaysia Open, in Kuala Lumpur, on Tuesday.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu and National champion Sameer Verma began the new season on a resounding note by winning the women's and men's singles crowns respectively at the USD 120,000 Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Lucknow on Sunday.
Disappointed over their base price in Monday's players' auction being slashed at the last minute, doubles specialists Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa declared that the Indian Badminton League's decision was "disrespectful" and "absurd".
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.
Parupalli Kashyap stands just one victory away from winning a historic gold after notching up an energy-sapping three-game victory over England's Rajiv Ouseph but P V Sindhu suffered a heart-breaking loss in the women's semi-final at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, on Saturday.
Returning to action after nearly two months, Saina, who made last-minute withdrawals from Indonesia Open and last week's Japan Open because of injuries, got past Chaiwan 21-17, 21-19 in her opening round contest.
India's campaign at the Sudirman Cup came to an end as they went down to Malaysia in the second Group C match.
Indian badminton stalwarts P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal suffered contrasting fortunes at the Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament, the former progressing to the second round and the latter bowing out after losing her opener in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday.
Besides Srikanth, the other players withdrawn are Ashwini Ponnappa, Ritika Rahul Thkar, Treesa Jolly, Mithun Manjunath, Simran Aman Singh and Khushi Gupta.
The Jwala Gutta-led Krrish Delhi Smashers will lock horns with Ashwini Ponnappa's Pune Pistons in the tournament opener of the inaugural Indian Badminton League, which kicks off in Delhi on Tuesday.
This was Sameer's fifth loss to Lee in seven meetings.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal started her campaign on a positive note, advancing to the second round of the women's singles competition but it was curtains for Parupalli Kashyap and K Srikanth in the men's singles category of the All England championship in London.
London Games bronze medallist Saina, who had retired midway through her first match at Uber Cup Final due to a groin injury, couldn't match Japan's world no 20 Aya Ohori and lost 21-16, 21-14 in the opening round.
It is "irritating" to be unlucky all the time; perhaps they need some "divine intervention" to win crucial matches, said a frustrated Satwiksairaj Rankireddy after he and Chirag Shetty were beaten in the men's doubles semi-finals at the World Championships, in Tokyo, on Friday.
Pune Pistons clinched a thrilling 3-2 victory on day one of the inaugural Indian Badminton League in New Delhi, on Wednesday after the mixed doubles combination of Ashwini Ponnappa and Joachim Fischer Nielsen got the better of Jwala Gutta and Kien Keat Koo of Krissh Delhi Smashers.
