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.
Indian badminton star and Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal was Thursday ruled out along withParupalli Kashyap from the 12th South Asian Games due to injury concerns, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) informed the local organisers in Shillong. "We've received a communication from BAI stating that the entire badminton squad except for Saina and Kashyap is arriving on Friday afternoon," SAG (Shillong) joint CEO FR Kharkongor told PTI. Saina and Kashyap are two of the top badminton athletes for the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio. Jwala Gutta has been confirmed as the captain of the Indian team by BAI President Akhilesh Das Gupta.
Slipping out of the usual top-five was seen as a real possibility in absence of shooting but phenomenal success in athletics and lawn bowls propelled India to a commendable fourth place finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
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.
'Head out!' 'It has been a long time that we have not met family and friends.'
And, run to the court.'
'You could not look like Ranveer Singh and act like Kapil Dev, so performing like Kapil Dev was double the challenge.'
The 24-year-old from Hyderabad will begin her campaign against China's Li Xuerui, a former Olympic gold medallist and World No 1.
Women's doubles coach Jwala Gutta said she would use her new role to bring the focus on them.
All eyes will be on Indian ace Saina Nehwal when she returns to the court after an injury lay-off at the All England Championship, hoping to better last year's runner-up finish at the prestigious event which begins with the qualifiers in Birmingham.
Indian Women's Hockey team leaves for Argentina tour.
India's top-five finish not a given this time
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.
London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal has pulled out of the US$350,000 Singapore Super Series to spend more time in training to improve her game ahead of the hectic international circuit.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
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).
'Saina and Sindhu are top contenders, but they will have to beat players who are playing solid badminton at this juncture.'
He was hailed as the next big thing when he shocked five-time world and two-time Olympic champion, Lin Dan in the final of China Open Super Series Premier event, a performance that also held out promise of a medal at the Rio Olympics.
Her recovery from a knee injury going on smoothly, India's star shuttler Saina Nehwal is hoping to return to the courts by the end of next month.
India's badminton stars Saina Nehwal and Purapalli Kashyap are ready to walk down the isle, according to media reports.
It is the surprise element of the unheralded shutters, who could pose a bigger threat to his medal aspirations at next month's Commonwealth Games.
On Wednesday, Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, seeded eighth, scraped past the Denmark duo of Amalie Magelund and Freja Ravn 21-9, 17-21, 21-19 in the women's doubles.
Rediff.com introduces you to the athletes who have brought India glory in Birmingham.
Back in action after recovering from a knee injury, star shuttler Saina Nehwal says she needs good match practice to be at her best in the prestigious All England Championship in March. "I am happy with my improvement. My movements are still sluggish. I still need good match practice," she told reporters here late last night after losing to top-ranked shuttler Carolina Marin in a Premier Badminton League (PBL) match. Saina had sustained an intra-articular injury (inside the joint) in her right knee and had lost in the group stage in the Rio Olympics. She later underwent a surgery and was on rehab.
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.
'The Chinese will be gunning for revenge now after Sindhu's victory.'
In a startling disclosure, India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal revealed that she had to initially hide her relationship with husband Parupalli Kashyap because of 'societal barriers'.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal on Sunday said India has adequate infrastructure for badminton but don't have enough coaches and academies. "There is no problem on infrastructure front, but what we don't have enough number of academies and coaches, like the Chinese have," she told PTI. Saina has been practising in Bengaluru after recovering from a knee injury which had affected her progress at Rio Olympics. She had lost her second group match against Ukraine's Maria Ulitina to crash out of the mega event.
Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram notched up the biggest triumph of his career by clinching $50,000 Yonex Dutch Open Grand Prix badminton tournament in Almere.
P V Sindhu said she still has lots to learn and needs to add a few more shots to her repertoire to dominate world badminton.
India's Siril Verma climbed a whopping 11 rungs to take the number one spot in the junior men's singles category of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings on Thursday.
His repeated requests for rehabilitation ignored, Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Parupalli Kashyap is flummoxed after being sent air tickets to join the Indian badminton squad at the South Asian Games despite being laid low by an abdominal strain.
Legendary Prakash Padukone was revered as the world number one player during his hey days before the modern day computerised ranking system was introduced.
BAI cancels preparatory camp.
Asked about Saina Nehwal, whose 2012 London Games bronze medal winning show was a path breaker for Indian women's badminton, Padukone is confident that the 26-year-old former World number one will be regain her best form.
Top seed Saina Nehwal pulled out of the Syed Modi International Grand Prix badminton tournament due to a hamstring injury and fever.
India has never had so many highly-ranked shuttlers.
Having slumped in the rankings, champion shuttler Parupalli Kashyap tells Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com how he plans to qualify for the Rio Olympics.
Gopichand, who shaped Sindhu and Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal among others, believes it will take some time for the next big star to emerge.
Jelena Jankovic teamed up with men's world number one Djokovic at his tennis complex in Serbia's capital and beat the duo of Serbia's Davis Cup captain Nenad Zimonjic and 19-year-old prospect Olga Danilovic 7-6 in a mixed doubles contest.
