Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth capped a remarkable campaign with a runner-up finish at the Malaysia Masters Super in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, going down in straight games to China's world No. 4 Li Shi Feng in the men's singles final.
Both Super 100 tournaments have now been removed from the BWF's revamped calendar.
Kiran George lost to World champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters.
'In the last couple of tournaments, we've served a lot better than in the past year. The game is too fast to rely on one style. You need multiple ways to score points, and that's what we are trying to develop.'
'I'm still here, still able to play against somebody who is 14 years younger to me and give tough competition, I should be able to find happiness in it.'
Treesa and Gayatri will be up against fourth-seeded Japanese pair of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The Indian will have yet another uphill task at hand when he takes on Axelsen, the baby-faced badminton giant, who has terrorised his opponents in the last few years.
Chirag and his longtime partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won the men's doubles bronze last week
Fresh from their Korea Open triumph, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will look to continue their dream run.
Tanvi will take on top seed Beiwen Zhang of the United States in the final.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has been nominated for the Woman Player of the Year Award of the Badminton World Federation after a consistent season which saw her occupy the world number one spot for a brief period.
Earlier, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) had said in an update that Satwik had suffered a groin injury.
P V Sindhu failed in her quest to win her first BWF World Tour title since the Singapore Open in July 2022, beaten by China's Wang Zhi Yi 21-16, 5-21, 21-16 in the final of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 on Sunday.
India's Lakshya Sen and Priyanshu Rajawat suffered straight-game defeats in their respective pre-quarterfinal matches to crash out of the men's singles competition of the Indonesia Masters, a BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament, in Jakarta on Thursday.
India's top shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will be seen in action for the first time since the coronavirus-forced break when they compete in three upcoming tournaments in Bangkok, including the prestigious BWF World Tour Finals.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag won 21-17, 21-11.
Sindhu, Lakshya win openers; Sai Praneeth loses in US Open
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who hasn't played any tournament since the Birmingham Games due to an ankle injury, is now world number five after moving up a spot.
After Indonesia and South Korea on Friday joined Thailand, Australia, Chinese Taipei and Algeria in pulling out due to the dreaded disease
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.
PV Sindhu on Sunday said she is "definitely" going to play for the next couple of years even as the 2028 Los Angeles Games remains at the back of her mind.
B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, however, suffered a 21-23, 21-13, 12-21 loss against Korean pair of Song hyun Cho and Lee Jung Hyun in their mixed doubles opening round.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand went down to World No 4. pair Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Double Olympic medallist, Sindhu faces top seed and World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals. Ying beat Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour 21-10, 19-21, 21-11 to advance.
World number 14 Kidambi Srikanth has also withdrawn from the tournament and is in quarantine due to his close contact with Sai Praneeth, BWF said. Srikanth had returned a negative result on Monday.
The duo is aiming for top-30 ranking and continued success in bigger tournaments.
While India have never won the gold at the Asia Mixed Team Championships, they did secure mixed team gold and silver at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022.
'Both Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy have been cleared to participate in the ongoing Yonex Thailand Open after the fourth-round tests reports confirmed that both shuttlers have been tested negative for COVID-19.'
Satwik-Chirag pair achieves career-best world no. 2 ranking
The celebration of this historic feat was not yet over when Indian shuttlers scripted yet another jaw-dropping show in Birmingham, returning with six medals, including three golds, a silver and two bronze medals in August.
'We told them we are ready to conduct the India Open in December or January but it all depends on how this global health crisis comes under control and if we get the government approval'
Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu will next play Japan's Natsuki Nidaira, while Sen will be up against Ygor Coelho of Brazil.
P V Sindhu has been ruled out of action for the next few weeks after scans found a niggle in her left knee.
Sindhu had beaten world number 18 Zhang in the Malaysian Open quarter-finals in May this year but the Chinese avenged that defeat and also made the lifetime win-loss record to 3-2 against the Indian.
India's campaign at the BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament ends after Srikanth, Prannoy and Verma were knocked out earlier in the day.
Sen has a 4-2 head-to-head record against his final opponent Li Shi Feng, the reigning All-England champion. Sen had defeated him recently at the Thailand Open.
Lakshya Sen suffered a stunning first round exit as India's challenge came to an end in the German Open.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty achieved a career-best world number three
The Hyderabad Open badminton tournament, scheduled to be held from August 11 to 16, was on Thursday cancelled by the world body BWF in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The event was part of the BWF's revised calendar to restart the sport after the pandemic-forced cancellations since March.
Star Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty fought valiantly before going down to the Chinese duo of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in an exciting men's doubles final of the China Masters Super 750 tournament
