'Badminton at this level is a mental game.' 'Often just one or two points makes the deficit and often it's upstairs on the first floor that these things happen.'
Sania Mirza ended her Olympics build-up on a disappointing note as she suffered a first round exit from the WTA Premier event in USA along with her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands, in Carlsbad, USA on Tuesday.
Olympic-bound shuttlers Jwala Gutta and V Diju on Friday crashed out of the Singapore Open Super Series -- their last tournament before London Olympics -- after going down fighting to second seeds Hung Ling Chen and Wen Hsing Cheng of Chinese Taipei in a thrilling three-game quarterfinal match.
The Olympics-bound Indian mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju defeated the Malaysian duo of Aik Quan Tan and Pei Jing Lai in straight games to reach the quarter-finals of the Singapore Super Series on Thursday. The sixth seeded pair won 21-15, 21-15 in a little less that 30 minutes.
Sania Mirza's singles campaign at the Pattaya Open ended on Friday with a 5-7, 3-6 quarter-final defeat to Chinese Taipei qualifier Su-Wei Hsieh. The Indian ace, however, stayed in contention in the doubles by entering the semi-finals.
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.
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal suffered a shock straight-game defeat at the hands of world number 12 Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei in the semifinal to crash out of the Malaysia Open Super Series in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
Poonam Rani will lead an 18-member Indian squad for the third Girls' Under-18 Asia Cup hockey, in Bangkok, Thailand, from September 16-25. India is placed in Pool B, with China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan. Pool A comprises Korea, Japan, Thailand, Singapore and Chinese Taipei.
The reigning Olympic silver medallist took just 36 minutes to record her 2nd win in the competition.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal came from behind to notch a hard-fought victory over Juan Gu of Singapore in a first round match at the Malaysian Open Super Series, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday. The fourth seed won 19-21, 21-14, 21-15, in 56 minutes.
Indian ace Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black ended the season and their partnership on a remarkable high by clinching the WTA finals women's doubles title with a comprehensive triumph in the summit clash in Singapore.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal sailed into the Korea Open Super Series quarter-finals after notching up a straight games victory over Shao Chieh Cheng of Chinese Taipei in the second round.
On a good day for India, promising archer Deepika Kumari and the men's recurve team sailed into the finals of the Archery World Cup Stage 2 at Antalya in Turkey, on Friday.
Promising Indian archer Deepika Kumari has made the final of the women's recurve individual event of the World Cup Stage 2 at Antalya. She will face Korea's Lee Sung Jin in the summit clash on Saturday.
India's Ajay Jayaram kept his nose ahead of compatriot P Kashyap for the London Olympics qualification as he notched a straight-game victory in the first round of Asia Badminton Championships in Qingdao, China, on Tuesday. Jayaram was the only bright spot on a gloomy day for India as the rest of the country's shuttlers failed to cross the first hurdle at the Qingdao Sports Centre Conson stadium.
Kynan Chenai gave himself an advance birthday gift by securing a quota place for the Rio Olympics but London Games silver medallist Vijay Kumar's hopes of earning a berth went up in smoke at the Asia Olympic Qualifying Competition for shooting, in New Delhi on Thursday.
India's Sania Mirza and her Australian partner Anastasia Rodionova came from a set down against Chinese Taipei pair of Hao-ching Chan and Yung-jan Chan to clinch the women's doubles title at the Pattaya Open on Sunday.
Kidambi Srikanth continued his fine form to enter the men's singles semi-finals but Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu bowed out of the Australian Open Super Series badminton tournament in Sydney, on Friday.
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.
A 13-member team, comprising seven men and six women, was on Wednesday selected by the Badminton Association of India to participate in the Li Ning China Masters Super Series tournament to be held in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China from September 13-18.
The Pool B comprises Chinese Taipei, Japan, Thailand and Korea.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal hardly broke sweat in a straight games victory over Chinese Taipei's Shao Chieh Cheng, which gave her a berth in the women's singles quarter-finals of the Malaysian Super Series badminton, in Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday. The fourth seed rode on her smashes and better net play to outwit Cheng 21-19, 21-8 in 31 minutes.
After a quarter-final finish at Korea last week, India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal will now set her sights on the Malaysia Super Series, which begins with the qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Four-time silver medallist Deepika Kumari was beaten by Tan Ya-ting in straight sets to make an embarrassing first round exit from the Archery World Cup Final in Rome on Sunday.
The total household wealth in India during this period rose 1.7 per cent to $246 billion.
India's men's singles players Arvind Bhat and RMV Gurusaidutt, on Wednesday, made the main draw of the Hong Kong Super Series after notching up contrasting wins in the qualifiers.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal inched closer to a third successive Indonesian Open Super Series badminton title after advancing to the finals with a three-game triumph over Chinese Taipei's Shao Chieh Cheng in Jakarta on Saturday.
Still smarting from her second-round exit in Denmark last week, Saina Nehwal will seek redemption when she starts her campaign at the French Open Super series, which begins with the qualifiers at Paris on Tuesday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal suffered a straight-game 19-21, 13-21 defeat to Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei in the second round and crashed out of the Denmark Open Super Series, at Odense, on Thursday. However, Jwala Gutta and V Diju kept the tri-colour fluttering after a 21-16, 21-19 victory over Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier of England in the second round of the mixed doubles.
Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Anand Pawar advanced to the second round of the Denmark Open Super Series after contrasting victories in the opening round of the main draw at Odense on Wednesday. Fourth seed Saina beat Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 21-16, 21-8 in a 31-minute clash in the women's singles, while Anand saw off Pablo Abian 21-11, 21-12 in the men's singles.
India's Saina Nehwal lost to Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying 21-16, 18-21, 21-14 and was knocked out of the BWF World Superseries Final in Dubai on Friday.
Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh lost momentum after a good start but the two-under 69 was still enough to fetch him a season's best finish of tied fourth in the $ 750,000 Macau Open on Sunday.
Jeev Milkha Singh slipped one place to tied fifth but the Indian golfer along with compatriots Gaganjeet Bhullar and Shiv Kapur did well to hang on in yet another hard day in the heat and humidity of the hilly and challenging Macau Golf and Country Club in Macau.
Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and H S Prannoy registered fighting victories in the last eight contests at the $120,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Basel on Friday.
Title contender and Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal stormed into the quarter-finals of the women's single competition at the All England Badminton Championships with a straight-set victory over her Chinese Taipei opponent in Birmingham.
India's women's recurve team shocked top seeds Germany 5-3 to set up a gold medal clash with Chinese Taipei in the first stage of the archery World Cup at the Yuanshen Stadium, in Shanghai, on Friday.
India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Elena Vesnina of Russia advanced to the mixed doubles final of the Wimbledon after pipping Australian Paul Hanley and Chinese Taipei's Su-Wei Hsieh 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 in a gruelling three-setter that lasted close to two hours.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal inched closer to a third successive Indonesian Open Super Series title after advancing to the finals with a hard-fought victory over Chinese Taipei's Shao Chieh Cheng in Jakarta on Saturday.
Saina Nehwal moved a step closer to defending her Indonesian Open Super Series title, reaching the semi-finals with a straight games' victory over Denmark's eighth seed Tine Baun, in Jakarta, on Friday. The fourth seed won 21-19, 21-19 in 37 minutes.
Now all eyes are on the two Super 1000 events -- Yonex Thailand Open (January 12-17) and Toyota Thailand Open (January 19-24) as the world's best return to action following a prolonged break.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances