'In the long run, it is this unconditional love and constant support that becomes our armour and lets us take on any battle fearlessly.'
National coach Pullela Gopichand on Wednesday defended Indian Badminton League's decision to reduce the base price of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa before the IBL Players' auction, saying it was done so that the doubles specialists do not incur financial loss.
Set to return after an injury-induced break, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu is aware the road to Paris will be "challenging" and she needs to be "smarter" in her pursuit of coveted gold medal in the French capital.
Lakshya Sen, who won both his matches to play his part in the silver medal-winning effort in men's team event, too dropped one spot to world number 15. Kidambi Srikanth gained a spot to 20th.
The Indian Badminton League's glamour quotient has gone up by quite a few notches with a consortium involving former cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar and Telugu actor Nagarjuna buying the event's Mumbai franchise.
Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com captures all the action at the Indian Sports Honours 2023 event in Mumbai on Thursday night.
'Until April 2024, we have the qualification period so until that we might push for more tournaments but the plan is to pick and choose after you qualify and then gradually peaking before the Olympics.'
It is a pity that he does not take his youth influencer role more seriously and align his brand endorsements more responsibly, notes Kanika Datta.
By securing a place in the semfinals, Haseena Sunil Kumar Prannoy became the first Indian in 41 years to book a badminton medal in the men's singles at the Asian Games.
Deepika and Atanu form the mixed team and they kickstarted their training
Sindhu leads India to 3-2 win over Hong Kong in Asia badminton Team Championship
Star shuttler Jwala Gutta once again asked the Badminton Association of India to stop the "step-motherly treatment" towards its doubles players, saying its high time the federation changes its attitude. "I've won medals at the highest level but you're still not capitalising on the achievement. The doubles are still being given a step-motherly treatment. You need to change your attitude," a concerned Jwala told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of the 12th South Asian Games here. "After Ashwini and I, there is nobody and that is the plain truth. It's the doubles, I'm more worried about," a three-time medalist in the Commonwealth Games 2006, 2010 and 2014 lamented. "If we want to compete with China, we have to encourage all the events. We can't just bank on singles all the time. Doubles is taken seriously everywhere except India," the ace shuttler said.
Pullela Gopichand expects Indian athletes to claim an unparalleled double digit medal haul at the Olympics
Praggnanandhaa said just talking to the Indian chess wizard (Anand) boosts his confidence.
Kapil said the mentality of Indian parents towards sports has changed drastically over the years, but more needs to be done.
HS Prannoy and PV Sindhu is set to lead India's charge at the upcoming Sudirman Cup.
'It is the first time that India badminton player has won two Olympic medals in badminton, so it is a great achievement not only for Sindhu but also a big moment for my teaching life.'
India has been battling a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced many countries to ban travellers from India.
The Badminton Association of India will investigate doubles player Jwala Gutta's alleged role in provoking some players of her Indian Badminton League (IBL) team Krrish Delhi Smashers against playing a match versus Banga Beats.
P V Sindhu hopes to continue her rich vein of form in upcoming events, including the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, after winning the Singapore Open on Sunday.
Top Indian shuttler P V Sindhu will not be shaking hands during next week's All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham and use the traditional 'Namaste' greeting instead following the coronavirus outbreak, the 24-year-old said. Seven Indian badminton players have pulled out of the Birmingham tournament over coronavirus fears.
Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were among the host of high-profile winning bidders, as the organisers of the much-anticipated Indian Super League unveiled the eight franchises for the event in Mumbai on Sunday.
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.
H S Prannoy signed off with a bronze -- India's first medal in men's singles at the Asian Games in 41 years,.
India's Saina Nehwal breezed into the women's singles World Badminton Championships final after beating local girl Lindaweni Fanetri in Jakarta, on Saturday.
HS Prannoy battled his way into the semifinal of the men's singles with a thrilling three-game win over Malaysia Lee Zii Jia to assure India a badminton medal
This was the third title for the Indian duo -- they had clinched the Abu Dhabi Masters Super 100 and Nantes International Challenge this year.
Indian shuttlers bagged the Asian Youth badminton championship titles in both Under-15 and Under-17 categories to wrap up the tournament with two gold and two bronze, their best ever performance at the competition, in Kudus, Indonesia, on Sunday.
World No 1 men's shuttler Lee Chong Wei's coach Tey Seu Bock of Malaysia was appointed chief coach of Mumbai Masters for the inaugural Vodafone Indian Badminton League on Sunday.
The 28-year-old's comment came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with 2018 Commonwealth Games medallists in the national capital on Monday.
The Indian men's badminton team scripted a memorable 3-2 win over Malaysia to enter the semifinals of Thomas Cup for the first time in 43 years
The Indians, who were also Asian champions, defeated the current world champions in 43 minutes.
The Indian badminton team sealed a place in the knockout stage of the Sudirman Cup mixed team championship, despite Indonesia pulling off a stunning 3-2 victory over Denmark in the last match of the Group 1D in Gold Coast, Australia, on Wednesday.
Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal says the inclusion of former Olympic champion and her childhood hero Taufik Hidayat in her team Hyderabad Hotshots will serve as a moral booster in the upcoming Indian Badminton League.
He has learnt a lot from the great Mahendra Singh Dhoni but Ruturaj Gaikwad said he will lean on his own leadership style during the Asian Games.
After guiding Hyderabad Hotshots to the inaugural Indian Badminton League title, Saina Nehwal has cited fatigue and will skip the Japan Open Super Series tournament.
India had won the mixed team gold at 2018 CWG for the first time and Chirag feels they can repeat the performance this year too.
The Indian Badminton League has named Under-19 players for five of its franchises, in addition to those picked at the auction. According to IBL rules, each franchise had to pick an India Under-19 player, who will be the 11th player in the respective squads.
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