The 125-ranked Indian badminton ace, whose career has been dogged by injury, wants to reach the top 30-35 this year.
Uncertainty is so intrinsic to sports that elite athletes will not have much trouble coping up with a pandemic-forced lockdown, believe India's top sports psychologists as they become a part of their journey into an unchartered territory. Rocked by the coronavirus pandemic, which has impacted minds as much as health and productivity, sports pyshologists Dr Chaitanya Sridhar, Nanaki J Chadha, and Keerthana Swaminathan are dealing with athletes across disciplines and economic spectrum, being their "sounding board, friend" and enabling them to process the magnitude of the situation.
Saina Nehwal lost to reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin but her side Awadhe Warriors still beat Hyderabad Hunters in a Premier Badminton League encounter at the Gachibowli indoor stadium in Hyderabad on Monday.
'Need a couple of upsets to win medal at Asian Games'
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.
P V Sindhu hoped to regain peak fitness before the start of individual events and assured India will return with multiple medals.
Thai shuttler Bodin Issara, banned for two years for physically assaulting former doubles partner Maneepong Jongjit, has asked authorities to cut his opponent's suspension for the on-court brawl so that he can play in the World Championships.
Top shuttlers are unlikely to take part in the hastily arranged selection trials by Badminton Association of India.
Saina Nehwal is better equipped to win a medal in Rio in August than the Indian shuttler was when she claimed a bronze at the London Olympics four years ago, former All England champion Prakash Padukone said.
'Being a cricketer, I will say that the game needs to be globalised, without any doubt'
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
These athletes made India proud four years ago.
Young Indian shuttlers K Srikanth and H S Prannoy advanced to the quarter-finals of men's singles at the Japan Open, but it was curtains for teen sensation P V Sindhu in the US $200,000 Super Series event, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, on Thursday.
Star India shuttler Saina Nehwal, who has recovered from a serious knee injury sustained during the Rio Olympics in August and is back on the international circuit, is still not at her physical best and needs more time to reach that high level, feels her coach Vimal Kumar.
The Indian badminton ace is working to a schedule in preparation for the international season ahead.
'I play in the present without thinking about the buzz in the background,' says Vivek Sagar Prasad, who has just won the FIH Rising Star of the Year award.
On the eighth day of CWG 2018, the 22-year-old from Hyderabad made everything look so easy as she clinched a comfortable 21-15, 21-9 win over Wendy Chen in a one-sided last-16 clash of the women's singles event that lasted 34 minutes at the Carrara Sports Arena.
The NITI Aayog has big plans for Indian sport.
Saina Nehwal's aggression and intensity quite literally wilted P V sindhu as she picked up the women's singles Commonwealth Games gold medal with exhilarating triumph in the final, in Gold Coast, on Sunday.
'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'
'I didn't know I had a major injury. The belief of my parents and coach helped me get back'
With a ranking of 129, the Indian ace failed to get a direct entry.
The former All England badminton champion thrashed compatriot J B S Vidyadhar Rao in the men's singles final.
Both romped into the second round in the US $10,000 Asian Satellite badminton championship.
Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram notched up a superb straight-game win over Estonia's Raul Must in the finals to defend his men's singles title at the Dutch Open Grand Prix in Almere, The Netherlands on Sunday.
Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal notched up her first title after a career-threatening injury by claiming the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold with a hard-fought victory in the summit clash in Sarawak, Malaysia, on Sunday.
However, Anup Sridhar and Arvind Bhat went through the qualifying round at Birmingham on Tuesday.
The badminton ace would be playing in six international tournaments in the next two months.
The Indian ace was beaten by top seed Peter Gade of Denmark in the second round of the tournament.
The 2001 champion said he needs to give his injured knee "more rest".
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
In the other semi-final, top seed Lin Dan of China will take on Singapore's Ronald Susilo.\n\n
Indian shuttler Sourabh Varma stormed into his third successive summit clash after notching up a straight-game victory over local favourite and top seed Hsu Jen Hao in the men's singles semifinals of the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix badminton tournament, in Taipei City, on Saturday.
Rasmussen is the second big name missing from the five-day tournament, held a month earlier than usual this year to dovetail with the world championships being staged at the same National Indoor Arena venue in May.
Seeking to steer clear of the furore that was triggered by Saina Nehwal's open displeasure at being ignored for the Padma awards, ace Indian shooter Gagan Narang said he would prefer to wait for the government to take a call on such matters.
Former World No 1 Saina Nehwal asserted her supremacy over Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu with a straight game victory to enter the semi-finals of the USD 350,000 Indonesia Masters, in Jakarta on Friday.
Once labelled mild and fragile, P V Sindhu has undergone an astounding transformation at Pullela Gopichand Academy - a mix and match of different exercises, on-court training and yoga that make up Sindhu's days, most of which begin with her starting practice at 4:15 am -- that is helping her slay the world's best, writes Nikita Puri
World No.2 Saina Nehwal notched up a comfortable straight-game victory in their Trump match over P C Thulashi in the women's singles event to guide Awadhe Warriors to a convincing victory over Delhi Aces in their Premier Badminton League (PBL) match in Lucknow on Monday.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal entered the pre-quarterfinals but it turned out to be a disastrous day for the men with all of them, including reigning champion K Srikanth, failing to cross the opening hurdle at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super Series badminton.
A summary of Indian athletes' showing at the Commonwealth Games on Day 3.
