Saina had pulled out of the opening round of All England Open Championships last week after suffering a thigh injury.
'Need a couple of upsets to win medal at Asian Games'
The Indian mixed badminton team claimed its maiden Commonwealth Games gold medal, thrashing three-time defending champions Malaysia in the final, in Gold Coast.
Despite clinching the Macau Open title for the third time, India's ace shuttler P V Sindhu remained static at 12th position in the latest BWF world ranking released on Thursday. Saina Nehwal also held on to her number two position but a poor run of form saw K Srikanth lose a spot and slip to World No. 9.
- 'We need the government to support us with funds' - 'If government does not fund, lot of players will be lost. We are really depending on the government' - 'Before Olympics, any tournament we play and win is great. But, the ultimate goal is Olympics'
P V Sindhu and Lakshya Sen sailed into the second round but it was curtains for Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth on a mixed day for India at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament in Paris on Wednesday.
Riding on her stupendous performance at the Australian Open Super Series, Indian ace Saina Nehwal jumped two places to reach the World No. six in the latest BWF ranking released on Thursday. The 26-year-old from Hyderabad, who clinched the Australian Open title -- her first of the season - last Sunday, now has 75,369 points in her kitty.
Srikanth was to play against Momota in the first round on Wednesday but the Japanese world number one pulled out of the tournament on Tuesday
Saina Nehwal was forced to retire midway through her opening match but India's young brigade produced a clinical display to notch up a fine 3-2 win over Spain and get off to a winning start in the Uber Cup in Aarhus, on Sunday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated shuttler Kidambi Srikanth after he clinched his second Super Series Premier title by lifting the Indonesia Open men's singles trophy in Jakarta.
Despite clinching the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold title last week, Indian shuttler H S Prannoy slipped three places to World No 27 in the latest BWF rankings released on Thursday.
The London Olympic bronze medallist will face either Denmark's Line Christophersen or compatriot Ira Sharma for a place in the finals at the Super 100 event, which is a part of BWF's revised Olympic qualification events.
India's leading shuttlers P V Sindhu, Parupalli Kashyap and Anand Pawar got off to winning starts in the singles event at the US $125,000 Swiss Grand Prix Gold tournament in Basel on Wednesday.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, on Saturday, felicitated 2018 Commonwealth Games medallists Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu among others at Pragathi Bhavan.
The 28-year-old from Kerala had spent two weeks stressing over his physical and mental health after contracting COVID-19 last November.
India's men singles shuttler B Sai Praneeth alongwith two other doubles pairs advanced to the semi-finals of the $120,000 US Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament.
Parupalli Kashyap regained his place inside the top 10 in the latest BWF's world ranking, release on Thurday.
The Rio Games silver winner easily notched up a 21-14, 21-15 win over unseeded Japanese Aya Ohori in the second round match that lasted just 40 minutes.
Check out India's schedule on Day 8 of the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, on Thursday.
India's shuttlers, as expected, made a good start at the Commonwealth Games. They proved a class above Sri Lanka in a preliminary round mixed team event match, in Gold Coast, on Thursday. Spearheaded by Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth in singles, India won 5-0.
With the Sports Ministry set to include Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme.
India's leading shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the second round of the French Open with straight-game wins, but it was curtains for Sameer Verma at the US $750,000 BWF event, in Paris, on Wednesday.
P V Sindhu, K Srikanth, Ajay Jayaram, Subhankar Dey, B Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma scored easy first round singles victories, while the pair of Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa shocked a fancied Malaysian pair to enter the second round of the women's doubles.
Defending champion Kidambi Srikanth beat compatriot Sameer Verma 22-20, 19-21, 23-21 in an absorbing men's singles quarter-final to enter the semi-finals of the Denmark Open, in Odense, on Friday night. The Indian ace will meet second seeded Japanese and world No 1 Kento Momota, who got the better of Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab 21-13, 21-9 in another quarter-final.
The Indian women's team went down to Indonesia 1-3 for its second loss in the Badminton Asia Team Championships in, Alor Setar, on Friday.
The Indian ace, who attained a career-best No 1 after winning the India Open at the end of March, dropped a rung in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings, released on Thursday. Defeat in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier to reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China saw the London Olympics bronze medallist drop to No 2.
Three Indians, including P V Sindhu, advanced to the pre-quarter-finals in the US $120,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, but it was curtains for Ajay Jayaram in the men's singles, on Wednesday.
Kidambi Srikanth created history as he became the first Indian man to enter the World Badminton Championships final after edging compatriot Lakshya Sen in a thrilling semi-final, in Huelva, Spain on Saturday. Srikanth rallied after losing
Indian men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy stunned Olympic silver medallists Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia to enter the quarterfinals of the $ 700,000 Japan Open badminton tournament, in Tokyo, Wednesday.
Star shuttlers, including P V Sindhu, will chase individual gold medals but doubles would also under the spotlight as India would aim to retain the mixed team title and continue their consistent run at the Commonwealth Games.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on the sixth day of the Asian Games.
Her reluctance to appear for BAI trials could well end her chances of representing the flag
National camp to resume on Monday.
Olympics-bound Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu easily won their women's singles first round matches in the Badminton Asia Championships, in Wuhan, China, on Wednesday.
Indian campaign in the Denmark Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament ended with Parupalli Kashyap suffering a straight-game defeat at the hands of second seed Chen Long of China in the men's singles semi-finals in Odense (Denmark).
Saina and Busanan engaged in some long rallies but it was the Thai shuttler who had the last laugh
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu was the only bright spot on a dismal day for Indian badminton as she progressed to the quarter-finals with a straight-game win at the US $350,000 Thailand Open World Super 500 tournament in Bangkok on Thursday.
A quarterfinal loss at the All England Championship saw Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal slip three places down the rung to the sixth spot in the latest BWF world ranking on Thursday. Saina, who turned 26, went through injuries last year and missed out on a few tournaments this season, including the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold and South Asian Games in January and February respectively. The Olympic bronze medallist, who had finished runners-up at the 2015 All England Championship, lost to Tai Tzu Ying in straight games in the quarterfinals. The Indian now has 73,222 points. Two-time bronze medallist at World Championship, P V Sindhu improved a place to reach the 11th spot.
Top shuttler B Sai Praneeth and doubles player Dhruv Rawat have already pulled out after testing positive in the pre-departure testing.
The Indian men's doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reclaimed its position in the top 10 of the latest BWF rankings.
