V K Vismaya stunned her fancied opponents, M R Poovamma and Hima Das, to win the gold medal in the women's 400m race at the Indian Grand Prix-3, in Sangrur, on Saturday.
The Rio Olympic silver-medallist knocked out defending champion Nozomi Okuharabeat 21-17, 21-19 to advance.
Saina Nehwal fought her way back from a game down to win her opening round match while compatriot P V Sindhu crushed her opponent to storm into the second round of the French Super Series in Paris, on Wednesday.
The Indian men's team beat a depleted China 3-2 at the Badminton Asia Team Championships at the Gachibowli indoor stadium in Hyderabad
P V Sindhu, will have to punch above its weight to salvage any hopes of a medal after being handed a tough draw in the badminton event at the 18th Asian Games.
Memories of a path-breaking gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games are still fresh in her mind as Saina Nehwal embarks on a quest to regain the title at the Gold Coast Games starting next week.
PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth advanced into the second round while Saina Nehwal and Sai Praneeth made first-round exits at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham on Wednesday.
Saina Nehwal produced one of her finest performances in recent times to guide Indian women's team to a comfortable victory over Thailand and catapult the hosts to the top of Group Y in the Uber Cup badminton tournament in New Delhi.
Top seed R M V Gurusaidutt entered the men's singles semi-finals, but women's defending champion P C Thulasi and reigning National champion Sayali Gokhale were knocked out of the US $15,000 Tata Open India International Challenge Badminton tournament at the Cricket Club of India, in Mumbai, on Friday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
PV Sindhu's gallant effort to become India's first ever World Champion ended in a heart-wrenching defeat against Nozomi Okuhara in an epic final, in Glasgow, on Sunday.
India badminton team have been accorded the top seed this time and are clubbed with Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Scotland in Group A.
India has huge expectations from these champions. Rediff.com's Laxmi Negi and Norma Godinho glance at their chances at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
P V Sindhu cemented her position as a dominant force on the world stage with an Olympic silver medal while Saina Nehwal continued to battle with injuries in a year, which saw Indian badminton take giant strides at the global platform. It turned out to be a watershed year for Sindhu, who reached the upper echelons of world badminton with a silver medal at Rio Games -- an achievement also for her mentor and chief coach Pullela Gopichand, who became the only Indian coach to produce two Olympic medallists. On the other hand, for the first part of the year, it was Saina's battle with injuries which dominated the headlines even though she was considered to be the best bet for India at Rio. The Indian ace fought against time to recover from an Achilles tendons and went on to win the Australian Super Series.
Olympic champion, Spain's Carolina Marin turned out to be the costliest buy of the second edition of the Premier Badminton League (PBL), while Kidambi Srikanth fetched the highest amount by an Indian at the players' auction, in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Ace shuttlers Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu came up with spectacular victories but the Indian women's team still had to be satisfied with the bronze medal after it went down fighting 2-3 to five-time champions Japan in its maiden semifinals appearance in the Uber Cup on Friday.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal was the only bright spot in what turned out to be a dismal day for the Indian badminton team as it crashed out of the prestigious Sudirman Cup after a 1-4 loss to three-time champions Korea in a Group 1D tie, in Dongguan China, on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
Star shuttler Jwala Gutta once again asked the Badminton Association of India to stop the "step-motherly treatment" towards its doubles players, saying its high time the federation changes its attitude. "I've won medals at the highest level but you're still not capitalising on the achievement. The doubles are still being given a step-motherly treatment. You need to change your attitude," a concerned Jwala told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of the 12th South Asian Games here. "After Ashwini and I, there is nobody and that is the plain truth. It's the doubles, I'm more worried about," a three-time medalist in the Commonwealth Games 2006, 2010 and 2014 lamented. "If we want to compete with China, we have to encourage all the events. We can't just bank on singles all the time. Doubles is taken seriously everywhere except India," the ace shuttler said.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
India's chief badminton coach Pullela Gopichand says the draw hardly matters if the shuttlers are focused on gunning for a medal at the Olympics. He believes that it will boil down to two good back-to-back matches under pressure to earn a medal at the Rio Games, starting August 5.
P V Sindhu opens her campaign in the China Open women's singles against Evgeniya Kosetskaya of Russia, in Fuzhou, China, on Tuesday.
Glasgow World Championship bronze medallist Saina got the better of two-time World champion Marin 22-20, 21-18 and in the process avenged her second round defeat to the Spanish ace at the Japan Open.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
Embattled shuttler Jwala Gutta said the national federation should not construe her "suggestions" as criticism since she had nothing against them and imposition of a life ban because of her blunt talking would be "silly".
Jwala Gutta launched a verbal tirade against the Badminton Association of India on Friday, saying the decision to recommend a life ban on her has only made it a laughing stock.
Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth won their respective singles matches, while Satwik Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa triumphed in the mixed doubles to help India outclass Malaysia in the final and clinch the gold medal in the Mixed Team badminton gold medal match at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Hyderabad Hotshots, spearheaded by Indian badminton icon Saina Nehwal, brought down the high-flying, unbeaten Pune Pistons with a comprehensive 4-1 victory in the Indian Badminton League, at the NSCI courts, in Mumbai.
The Hong Kong Open finalist, Sameer reached the quarter-finals with a shocking 21-17, 21-15 win in a 40-minute match.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday.
Parupalli Kashyap etched his name firmly in the history books by becoming the first Indian male shuttler in 32 years to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
India were left to rue a missed opportunity in tennis with Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna's losing in the semi-finals of the mixed doubles after Lalita Babar became the first woman in three decades to enter the final of a track event, on Day 8 of the 2016 Olympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro, on Saturday.
India lifted its sagging morale as Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna cruised into the semi-finals while pugilist Vikas Krishan advanced to the quarters on a day the shooters, archers, shuttlers and track and field athletes suffered reverses at the Rio Olympics.
Saina Nehwal guided the Indian women's team to a crushing 5-0 win over Canada to launch their Uber Cup campaign in style but their men's counterpart came a cropper against former champions Malaysia as they suffered a crushing 1-4 defeat in Thomas Cup in New Delhi.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
'Experience is important. But if you work hard, you can improve faster. There is a three-month gap now and we will look to train harder and improve our fitness for Olympics' 'I think we need to cut down simple errors on court and not give away easy points. We have got to work hard each day without thinking about the results, as giving our best is in our hands'
India cricket captain Virat Kohli and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu were on Monday recommended for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna by the awards selection committee.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
'I have certainly gained the respect of my rivals by consistently maintaining my ranking inside the top-10 mark.' 'I have beaten all these top players at least once and there will be no fear factor when I face them at Rio.'
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