When Bollywood star Akshay Kumar joined hands with Premier Badminton League (PBL), only entertainment was expected.
Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu and Ajay Jayaram advanced to the quarter-finals after registering thrilling three-game wins over their respective opponents in the second round of the China Super Series Premier, in Fuzhou, on Thursday.
Seventeen shooters, prominent among who is Beijing Olympics gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, are among 45 athletes selected by the government for financial assistance under the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme.
P V Sindhu and K Srikanth have been given the top billing in the respective women's and men's singles badminton competitions of the Commonwealth Games
Newly-crowned Korea Open champion P V Sindhu dished out another splendid performance edging past Japan's Minatsu Mitani for the second time in as many weeks to reach the second round of the women's singles at the Japan Open Super Series, in Tokyo, on Wednesday.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal and World number five Kidambi Srikanth were among the nine Indian shuttlers who entered the quarter-finals of the singles events at the Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Lucknow.
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 sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Former champions P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth stayed on course to reclaim titles while a vintage Parupalli Kashyap too regained some form to seal places in the men's singles semi-finals of the US $350,000 India Open badminton, in Delhi, on Friday.
Following is India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, on Friday, October 7.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Wednesday said it might freeze the world rankings for a while as it works on a "fair solution" to the Olympic qualification process after the coronavirus pandemic forced a postponement of the Tokyo Games to 2021. There have been growing calls to freeze the world rankings after cancellations and postponements wrecked the sport's calendar. Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, B Sai Praneeth, Parupalli Kashyap and H S Prannoy have been leading the way in expressing concerns.
The 24-year-old from Hyderabad will begin her campaign against China's Li Xuerui, a former Olympic gold medallist and World No 1.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Parupalli Kashyap stunned world No. 4 Kenichi Tago of Japan by posting a straight-game victory in the first round of the men's singles event while Saina Nehwal registered an easy victory at the French Open Super Series in Paris.
India's ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanth feels the Swiss Open win has put him on course for a first-ever Olympic qualification but says he needs maintain consistency to make the cut for the 2016 Rio Games and achieve World No. 1 ranking.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Indian shuttlers continued their impressive show with top stars P V Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth progressing to the semifinals of their respective events in the 21st Commonwealth Games' badminton competition, in Gold Coast, on Friday.
Check out India's schedule on Day 9 of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast on Friday.
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.
Legendary Prakash Padukone was revered as the world number one player during his hey days before the modern day computerised ranking system was introduced.
India's hopes of winning a medal in badminton team events at the 18th Asian Games went up in smoke after the men's and women's sides bowed out of the competition following identical 1-3 defeats in the quarter-finals in Jakarta on Monday.
Parupalli Kashyap came up with a brilliant performance to shock world No 7 Zhengming Wang of China in the US $250,000 India Super Series badminton tournament, in Delhi, on Wednesday.
Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has undergone an elbow surgery
National badminton coach, Pullela Gopichand, on Wednesday expressed happiness at the performance this year of Indian shuttlers and termed Kidambi Srikanth's feat of winning four Super Series titles as 'phenomenal'.
The world body has so far maintained that it has no plans to make any adjustments to the regulations related to the Tokyo Games qualification period and that other events will go as per schedule.
After much dilly-dallying, the Sports Ministry has included Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa in the 'Target Olympic Podium Scheme' (TOP) scheme, putting an end to the controversy surrounding the doubles duo's complaint of bias against the Ministry and chief national coach Pullela Gopichand.
Star India shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth notched up comfortable victories but it was young Mumbai player Harsheel Dani who hogged the limelight at the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold when he stunned H S Prannoy in straight games to storm into the quarter-finals in Lucknow on Thursday.
Saina Nehwal will lead India's charge in the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament which begins in Macau on Tuesday after three-time champion P V Sindhu pulled out of the event to prepare herself for the Dubai Super Series Finals.
The revamped Premier Badminton League (PBL), commencing here tomorrow with hosts Mumbai Rockets taking on the Saina Nehwal-spearheaded Awadhe Warriors, is to experiment with a new concept - Trump match - that's expected to keep the interest till the end of a tie.
Chennai Smashers qualified for the semifinals after beating Bangalore Top Guns 3-2 in the last league match of the Premier Badminton League 2016 at Sri Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, in Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
Indian racer Arjun Maini made a strong start to his highly-anticipated debut in the European LeMans Series, recording the second fastest laptime in the qualifying session of the race.
'You can't just have one single player who is individually doing well and be able to win the World Championship or the Olympics.' 'In the Thomas Cup, you need a group of players performing at the same time at their highest level.' 'So that shows how difficult it is, and what a great achievement that is for a country like India to be able to win it.'
Top seed R M V Gurusaidutt entered the men's singles semi-finals, but women's defending champion P C Thulasi and reigning National champion Sayali Gokhale were knocked out of the US $15,000 Tata Open India International Challenge Badminton tournament at the Cricket Club of India, in Mumbai, on Friday.
Kidambi Srikanth might be inching towards the coveted World No 1 ranking after his record-equalling Super Series win in Paris but he says he does not want to lose sleep over chasing it.
India has huge expectations from these champions. Rediff.com's Laxmi Negi and Norma Godinho glance at their chances at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The overall tally of six gold, five silver and 14 bronze medals at the end of day six put the country in 8th spot in the table with China leading the pack by quite a distance, having already crossed the 100-mark.
P V Sindhu cemented her position as a dominant force on the world stage with an Olympic silver medal while Saina Nehwal continued to battle with injuries in a year, which saw Indian badminton take giant strides at the global platform. It turned out to be a watershed year for Sindhu, who reached the upper echelons of world badminton with a silver medal at Rio Games -- an achievement also for her mentor and chief coach Pullela Gopichand, who became the only Indian coach to produce two Olympic medallists. On the other hand, for the first part of the year, it was Saina's battle with injuries which dominated the headlines even though she was considered to be the best bet for India at Rio. The Indian ace fought against time to recover from an Achilles tendons and went on to win the Australian Super Series.
Olympic medallists P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal made a resounding start to their women's singles campaign but it was Sameer Verma who hogged the limelight with a stunning straight-game win over Korean Son Wan Ho in men's event in the opening round of the India Super Series in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Glasgow World Championship bronze medallist Saina got the better of two-time World champion Marin 22-20, 21-18 and in the process avenged her second round defeat to the Spanish ace at the Japan Open.
PV Sindhu appears 'vulnerable' on the counter-attack and that is a big factor in her losing many a title clashes, including recent loss to Saina Nehwal in the singles final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, observed former India coach Vimal Kumar.
Vinesh Phogat's gold medal was India's first since women's wrestling was introduced at the Asian Games in 2002.
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