Three-time champion Saina Nehwal staved off a challenge from a lower-ranked Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei to make a positive start to her women's singles campaign at the $900,000 Indonesia Super Series Premier badminton tournament in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Early exits at Japan Open and Denmark Open proved costly for ace India shuttler Saina Nehwal as she lost her World No.1 crown to All England and World champion Carolina Marin of Spain.
P V Sindhu will be eager to return to the podium as former winner Saina Nehwal looks to regain her touch
H S Prannoy lost in the opening round even as compatriots Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu entered the second round of the $ 350,000 India Open Super 500 tournament, in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Sindhu and Saina will once again be India's best bet as they look to put up a good show this week.
Rising Indian doubles duo of Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Jerry Chopra stunned World No 7 Koreans Kim Gi Jung and Kim Sa Rang in an edge-of-the-seat semifinals to seal their maiden Grand Prix Gold final, while K Srikanth also stormed into the men's singles final at the Syed Modi International, in Lucknow, on Saturday.
Defending champion P Kashyap bowed out while top seed K Srikanth entered the semi-finals but it was the stunning win of doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar over their World No 8 opponents from Denmark that was the highlight of the day at Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, in Lucknow, on Friday.
Leading Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth won their first round matches in contrasting style at the Star Australian Open Superseries in Sydney on Wednesday.
It was heartbreak for P V Sindhu at the World Badminton Championships. The Indian shuttler had to settle for a second consecutive bronze medal after succumbing to Carolina Marin of Spain in the semi-finals, in Copenhagen, on Saturday.
Sameer Verma stayed on course for his title defence while three-time former champion Saina Nehwal too reached the semifinals with an easy win
Kashyap, who has been battling a series of injuries in the last few years, defeated Hao 21-7, 12-21, 21-18 in a match that lasted an hour and three minutes.
Pune Pistons secured a close 3-2 victory after icon player Ashwini Ponnappa and Fischer Nielsen Joachim won the deciding mixed doubles match.
India's foreign coach for badminton Agus Dwi Santoso says he will not be able to implement his plans for the Tokyo Olympics with only four shuttlers at his disposal, and wants the Sports Authority of India to allow more players in the national camp.
Following open criticism from top players like Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, who declared the Indian Badminton League's decision to slash their auction base price as "disrespectful" and "absurd", the Badminton Association of India and the league's organisers have now barred players from talking to the media.
P Kashyap insisted that he too has an outside chance of qualifying for the Tokyo Games but he has no way to pursue it as he can't train at the camp.
India's badminton doubles specialist N Sikki Reddy on Saturday heaved a sigh of relief after returning negative for COVID-19 barely two days after testing positive for the contagious disease, saying she was "shocked" by the not-so-kind reactions her initial result attracted.
Saina Nehwal finally broke her jinx at the $250,000 Indian Open Super Series badminton, storming into the quarter-finals of the women's singles with a straight-game victory over Thailand's Natcha Saengchote, in Delhi, on Thursday. The world No 8 Indian did not go beyond the second round in the last three editions of the Open and broke the hoodoo when she thrashed Natcha 21-15, 21-12 in just 35 minutes at the Siri Fort Sports complex. Parupalli Kashyap also continued his good run to reach the quarter-finals. He prevailed over his training partner, R M V Gurusaidutt, 21-15, 16-21, 21-11 in the men's singles.
Indian women shuttlers advanced to the Badminton Asia Team Championship quarter-finals despite a 1-4 loss to Japan in which P V Sindhu notched the country's only win Alor Setar, Malaysia, on Thursday.
Top Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy were knocked out of the 18th Asian Games after suffering shock defeats in the second round of the men's singles competition, in Jakarta, on Friday.
India should not have split their regular women's doubles pair to accommodate two combinations in Asian Games badminton team event, feels ex-shuttler Uday Pawar.
It was a day of mixed fortunes for India's badminton players at the $120,000 US Open Grand Prix Gold tournament as Sai Praneeth sneaked into the quarter-finals after a hard-earned victory while compatriots Ajay Jayaram and R M V Gurusaidutt lost their respective men's singles matches.
Indian shuttlers Ajay Jayaram, R M V Gurusaidutt and Sai Praneeth entered the pre-quarterfinals of the men's singles event at the $120,000 US Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament after victories over their respective opponents.
Indian shuttlers Ajay Jayaram and B Sai Praneeth advanced to the semi-finals of the $55,000 Canada Open Grand Prix badminton tournament after notching up contrasting victories in the men's singles competition in Calgary, Canada.
India witnessed another fruitful day at the Canada Open as all its shuttlers, including Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy, entered the third round of the $55,000 Grand Prix badminton tournament, in Calgary, Canada.
Sports stars extended warm wishes to their fans on social media as they get wrapped in New Year spirit.
Indian women's badminton team assured itself of at least a bronze medal after notching a comfortable 3-1 win over Thailand in the quarter-finals of the Uber Cup, in Kunshan, on Thursday.
Indian women made a stupendous start to their campaign at the Uber Cup badminton tournament by thrashing Australia 5-0, in Kunshan, on Monday.
The Indian pair had participated in Super 1000 events in 2018 and 2019 but this is the first time it entered the semi-finals.
Saina, who has been battling illness and injuries, is going through a bad patch, having lost six times in the first round this season.
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.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal, who has been training under Vimal Kumar for the last one week, wants the former chief coach to travel to Incheon, Korea with her for the upcoming Asian Games.
Ace Indian women's doubles player Jwala Gutta has pulled out of the prestigious Asian Games after sustaining a sprain in the right knee ahead of the multi-sport event in Incheon, Korea.
Fifth seeded Sindhu, who made early exits from China and Korea last month, has been pitted against Michelle Li, who remains a tricky customer despite the fact that Sindhu has a 5-2 head-to-head record against the world no 9 Canadian.
Facing a life ban threat from the Badminton Association of India (BAI), embattled shuttler Jwala Gutta vowed to continue her fight against injustice and come back stronger.
Indian shuttler HS Prannoy stunned reigning Olympic champion Lin Dan of China while Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap also crossed the opening hurdle to enter the second round of the USD 275,000 French Open Super Series.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Saina Nehwal and reigning champion Sameer Verma were a step away from clinching the men's and women's singles titles respectively
'I think Sindhu could have won. We had our chances in women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles yesterday and they could have pulled through. I think Kashyap also has had a good run. He has had a good tournament. Considering what has happened in the last year with him, it has been a good comeback'
World number one Saina Nehwal disposed off Nichaon Jindapon's challenge in straight games, but PV Sindhu crashed out of the Indonesian Open Super Series badminton tournament after a close first-round defeat, in Jakarta, on Wednesday. In the men's singles, both the Indians in the fray -- Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth -- advanced to the second round with contrasting victories.
Saina Nehwal was the lone Indian left in the Australian Open Super Series badminton tournament after a hard-fought victory over China's Sun Yu in Sydney on Thursday. The world No 1 overcame a stiff challenge from Yu, ranked No 9, winning 21-19, 19-21, 21-14 in 78 minutes.
