'I think it was a fantastic game for me. I started off really well in the first game but he was playing well in the second game, leading 11-6 at the break and fighting it out. But overall, I think my game was going great, my attack was going well for me'
A team mate of Japanese badminton Olympic medal hope Kento Momota on Friday confessed to taking the world number two-ranked player to an illegal casino and tearfully begged officials to allow the star to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Games.
Indonesian coach Agus Dwi Santoso has been roped in to guide the singles players -- both men and women -- ahead of Tokyo Olympics. Badminton Association of India (BAI) secretary, Ajay Singhania said the visa process has started and Santoso is likely to join the Indian team in the mid of next month.
Ajay Jayaram got off to a rousing start in the men's singles at the World Badminton Championships, shocking higher-ranked Wing Ki Wong of Hong Kong, in Guangzhou, China, on Monday. The 25-year-old Indian, ranked No 24, beat the world No 12 22-20, 17-21, 21-15 in 64 minutes, at the Tianhe Indoor stadium.
In hockey, the women's team continued its inspiring run with a silver medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
"I remember Chandrayaan-2's launch was earlier scheduled on July 15. I was there in Sriharikota. I saw the massive carrier, 'Bahubali', from close proximity.
In a 73-minute battle, Ayush, who hails from Sanoor near Karkala in Karnataka, showed his grit as he recovered from a game down to outwit his Indonesian opponent.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty staged a grand comeback after losing the opening game to beat top seeds Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia in the final and win the Korea Open Super 500 badminton tournament, in Yeosu, on Sunday.
The Bangalore lad shocked world No 12 Shoji Sato of Japan in a quarter-final match at the Yonex-Sunrise Asian Badminton Championship.
"It's the biggest win in my career so far and I'm happy it came in a big event like the world championships," said Sridhar.
The former world junior number one thus joined fellow Indians Aparna Popat (1996), Saina Nehwal (2006) and Siril Verma (2015) in winning a silver medal at the prestigious tournament.
India's national champion beat seventh seeded Scott Evans of Ireland in the final of the Yonex Hungarian International Open.
Prakash Padukone backed Sindhu to win the World Championship crown soon after two consecutive silver medal performances in the prestigious event.
Lakshya Sen's woeful run continued as he made a first round exit
Their only loss came against group toppers China, the most successful team in the tournament with 13 titles, in their second group tie on the opening day of the tournament.
1999 World champion Camilla Martin, 2001 world championship runner-up Peter Gade Christensen and 1997 World cham Peter Rasmussen will spearhead the squad.
With the main draw of the Asian Badminton Championships set to get underway from Wednesday, the struggling Indian shuttlers face an uphill task.
The Indian duo outclassed the Danish pair of Jeppe Bay and Lasse Molhede in the quarter-finals.
Badminton World No 1 Lee Chong Wei has denied cheating or relying on banned substances despite failing a doping test that could lead to a two-year ban.
Kidambi Srikanth scored a stunning straight-games victory over world No. 4 Lee Zii Jia but Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen suffered a shock defeat in the opening round of the Japan Open Super 750 badminton tournament, in Osaka, on Wednesday.
Indian Mithun Manjunath stunned fourth seed and world number seven Kean Yew Loh of Singapore in the opening round while PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth secured straight-game wins.
It was another good year for PV Sindhu, who won the India Open Super Series and Korea Open Super Series titles, besides bagging the silver at Glasgow World Championship and finishing as runners-up at Hong Kong Open last month.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Sumit Antil clinched a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games javelin throw F64 event with a world record effort of 73.29m.
The BWF also shared its Standard Operation Procedure with member associations, saying any breach "can result in accreditation being revoked and participants not permitted to enter the venue."
Lakshya Sen dished out a badminton masterpiece to notch up his second BWF Super 500 title with a straight-game win over Li Shi Feng of China in the final.
India's campaign at the Badminton Asia Championships ended after P V Sindhu lost her women's singles quarter-final against Eriko Hirose of Japan in a hard-fought contest in Taipei on Friday.
World championship bronze medallist Lakshya Sen entered his maiden World Tour Super 500 summit clash on Saturday with a come-from-behind win over Malaysia's Ng Tze Yong at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open in New Delhi.
The top-seeded Indian pair lost in straight games against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana of Indonesia in Birmingham on Thursday.
World champion P V Sindhu was on Friday ousted from the All England Championship after being outplayed by a determined Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, who rallied her way to a thrilling three-game win in the quarter-final of the women's singles in Birmingham. Sindhu's defeat ended India's campaign at the Super 1000 tournament.
Sindhu saw off Sim 21-13, 12-21, 21-14 in a 59-minute women's singles second-round match to register her third win over the Korean world number 34.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu survived some tense moments before progressing to the women's singles second round, but it was curtains for Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth in the men's singles at the Badminton Asia Championships, in Ningbo, China, on Wednesday.
Sindhu had won a gold in the mixed team event at the CWG in 2018, but a medal in singles has eluded her since her Games debut.
Badminton's new dress code has irked some of the Chinese female shuttlers, who insist wearing a skirt hampers their on-court movement.
Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy sailed into the pre-quarter-finals, but it was heartbreak for Parupalli Kashyap in the men's singles at the World Badminton Championships in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The Indian duo needed just 35 minutes to beat Lu Ming-Che and Tang Kai-Wei of Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals of the Super 500 tournament.
The BWF said that it was also looking at options to host its annual general meeting and members' forum which were due to take place in Aarhus in August.
Shuttlers in the singles competition have to be inside top-16 of world rankings to qualify for the Olympics. The cut-off for doubles is also top-16.
After a string of disappointing results, PV Sindhu parted ways with coach Park Tae Sang
ATP, WTA cancel China events, including Shenzen Finals
