Star shuttler H S Prannoy has credited top women shuttlers P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal for the positive change in mindset of other players while facing tougher opponents.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina staved off a spirited challenge from World No 44 Mette Poulsen of Denmark 21-19, 23-21 in a 46-minute match.
H S Prannoy stunned the legendary Lin Dan of China while compatriot Sameer Verma pipped Rasmus Gemke of Denmark to advance to the second round of the Indonesia Open badminton event.
India has entered the final of the Thomas Cup for the first time since the tournament began 73 years back.
India made a resounding start to their campaign at the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold with four Indian shuttlers advancing to the second round of the men's singles competition, in Basel, on Wednesday.
Double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra is among only three track and field athletes retained in the sports ministry's revamped TOPS core group.
Kiran George lost to World champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters.
Ace Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy crashed out in the second round of the China Open Super Series after suffering straight game defeats in their respective events.
Parupalli Kashyap continued his impressive run to advance to the semi-finals of the Singapore Open Super Series badminton tournament, even as young H S Prannoy was left ruing his luck as a foot injury forced him to concede his quarter-final, on Friday.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu was the only bright spot on a dismal day for Indian badminton as she progressed to the quarter-finals with a straight-game win at the US $350,000 Thailand Open World Super 500 tournament in Bangkok on Thursday.
H S Prannoy outwitted World No 2 and title favourite Kidambi Srikanth in a thrilling final to win the men's singles title at the 82nd Senior National Championship, in Nagpur on Wednesday.
H S Prannoy scored his second successive victory over three-time Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei, while Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth also registered contrasting wins to advance to the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open Super Series Premier, in Odense, on Thursday.
Indian shuttler Anand Pawar powered his way to the main draw of the men's singles competition with a straight-game victory over German's Dieter Domke in the Denmark Super Series Premier tournament.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu celebrated her 23rd birthday with a straight-game win over Japan's Aya Ohori to enter the quarter-finals of the $1,250,000 Indonesia Open BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournament.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty assured India of a men's doubles medal at the Badminton Asia Championships after 52 years after making it to the semi-finals in Dubai.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
India's H S Prannoy described his stunning win over Olympic champion Chen Long as one of the best of his career and credited his better fitness.
Fourth seeded Sindhu took 39 minutes to get the better of World No 22 Mia 21-13, 21-19, her second straight win over the Dane.
Two-time silver medallist P V Sindhu produced yet another commanding performance as she demolished Beiwen Zhang of United States in straight games to advance to the quarter-finals of the BWF Badminton World Championships.
Sourabh Verma and Ajay Jayram also entered the second round
Former World champion P V Sindhu needed 36 minutes to get the better of the 21-year-old Chaliha 21-7, 21-18 and set up a last-four meeting with Thailand's Supanida Katethong.
Lakshya Sen will take on Kidambi Srikanth in an all-Indian second round clash.
Indian shuttlers B Sai Praneeth and H S Prannoy won two bronze medals in the recently-concluded Junior World Badminton Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico. There was more good news for India, as Parneeth, Prannoy, among the boys, and PV Sindhu, girls, qualified for the Youth Olympic Games, to be held at Singapore in August.
Bornil Aakash Changmai became only the second Indian shuttler to win a gold medal in the Under-15 boys' singles category.
The world No. 6 Indian duo will next face Danish pair of Jeppe Bay and Lasse Molhede later on Friday.
H S Prannoy, feels a high ranking would help players avoid meeting top shuttlers in early rounds, while conceding that the primary focus should be on winning big events.
Interestingly, this was Prannoy's first-ever win against Sen in three head-to-had meetings so far.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal made another first-round exit, losing 15-21, 8-21 to Thailand's fourth seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the women's singles event.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu progressed to the quarter-finals of the All England Championship with a hard-fought win over Thailand's Nitchaon Jindapol in women's singles, in Birmingham.
P V Sindhu and Aakarshi Kashyap advanced to the women's singles second round at the Denmark Open Super 750 badminton tournament.
India's two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu romped into the women's singles semi-finals of the Indonesia Masters Super 750 badminton tournament with an easy victory over Turkey's Neslihan Yigit, in Bali, on Friday.
India's mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Chopra and N Sikki Reddy reached the second round but it was curtains for men's singles shuttlers at the Singapore Super Series, on Wednesday.
Check out how India's athletes fared on Day 6, Thursday, August 1, 2024:
Sai Praneeth and H S Prannoy will represent India in the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and the young shuttlers said they would settle for nothing less than a gold in the inaugural edition of mega-event starting on August 13.
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.
Two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Saina Nehwal continued her impressive run, progressing into the women's singles semi-finals with a straight-game win over unseeded Korean Lee Jang Mi at the Asia Badminton Championship in Wuhan, on Friday.
In the mixed doubles, the Indian duo of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto lost 13-21, 12-21 to the Chinese pair of Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping in the first round.
India witnessed another fruitful day at the Canada Open as all its shuttlers, including Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy, entered the third round of the $55,000 Grand Prix badminton tournament, in Calgary, Canada.
The 18-year-old Sen, the 2018 world junior championships silver-medallist, lost 13-21, 12-21 to Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand in a 32-minute contest.
Lakshya Sen and Saina Nehwal made impressive starts at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament, advancing to the second round of men's and women's singles respectively with contrasting victories in Jakarta on Wednesday.
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