The debate on scheduling kicked off after the legendary Prakash Padukone recently observed that the Indian players were "definitely playing more tournaments than required".
Manika Batra, who has become toast of the nation after her sensational run at the Gold Coast Games, is hoping that she has done enough to spark a table tennis revolution in India like Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu did for badminton.
When Pusarla Sindhu won a gold medal at the 2012 Asian junior badminton championships, her cricketing hero Sachin Tendulkar presented her with a car. One can only guess at the reception the 21-year-old player will receive when she returns into the arms of 1.3 billion Indians after becoming the country's most successful female Olympian with her silver-medal performance in Rio. The fact that she had been beaten 19-21 21-12 21-15 by Spanish world number one Carolina Marin in the final mattered little for a country that until Friday had won a solitary bronze at these Games.
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.
Chinese paddlers reasserted continental supremacy on Friday by defending both the men's and women's team titles on the fourth day of the 19th Asian Table Tennis Championships while Indian men finished a distant seventh in the Champions Division.
Lauding PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik for winning medals at the Rio Olympic Games, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, on Sunday, said it is the beginning of a wonderful journey for the duo.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on the seventh day of the Asian Games on Saturday.
Two-time Olympic silver medalist Lee Chong Wei suffered his second successive loss in a crucial Trump match at the Premier Badminton League (PBL) as Delhi Acers notched up a thrilling 4-1 win over Hyderabad Hunters at the Siri Fort Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday.
He will take over the doubles responsibilities for the Thomas Cup.
Indian shuttlers had a relatively good day in office at the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament in Jakarta on Wednesday, with the women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa and the men's team of Manu Attri-B Sumeeth Reddy progressing to the second round.
India's badminton sensation Saina Nehwal was Thursday declared the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year for her stupendous show in 2009.
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
P V Sindhu became the country's first-ever woman silver medal winner in the Olympic Games after coming second best against world champion Carolina Marin of Spain in a pulsating clash for the gold in the badminton singles on Day 14 of competition.
Shuttlers, shooters, kabaddi and volleyball teams reigned supreme as India bagged 12 gold out of the 13 on offer to continue their dominance with 55 medals at the end of the seventh day of the 11th South Asian Games in Dhaka on Thursday.
World champion P V Sindhu was on Friday ousted from the All England Championship after being outplayed by a determined Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, who rallied her way to a thrilling three-game win in the quarter-final of the women's singles in Birmingham. Sindhu's defeat ended India's campaign at the Super 1000 tournament.
10 achievers who made the cut in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list.
The team outclassed Scotland for its third straight victory in Group 3B, in the World Team badminton championship.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
The national women's champion is suffering from acute positional vertigo, which relates to giddiness.
Insurance companies are going all out to grab eyeballs.
While Sangakkara advises the under-fire keeper-batsman to keep things simple
Also seen in action for India will be the shuttlers, boxers, the women's hockey team and the table tennis players among others.
Wrestler Sushil Kumar, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and silver at the following Games in London, has signed up with Olympic Gold Quest, which will provide him training and financial assistance in his preparation for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Indian ace shuttler Ajay Jayaram's gallant fight ended in a defeat in the opening match as Indian men's team suffered a 1-3 loss against Thailand in their campaign-opener at the Thomas Cup badminton tournament, in Kunshun, on Sunday.
A record-smashing Mirabai Chanu and a perseverant P Gururaja claimed gold and silver respectively as weightlifters lived up to to the pre-event hype and delivered opening day medals for India at the 21st Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, on Thursday.
In the medal standings, India were placed eighth with a compilation of seven gold, five silver and 17 bronze.
World Champions China beat India 5-0 in the men's team event at the Doha Asian Games.
Anjali helped Sachin Tendulkar deal with the debacles during his reign as captain and carry on.
Looking back, the Indians had rubbed their hands in delight at the variety of marquee events at home the sporting calendar of 2017 offered, and they now look forward, with optimism and anticipation, to a challenging 2018.
World No 2 Saina Nehwal suffered a crushing defeat in Awadhe Warriors' Trump match as Mumbai Rockets stormed into the finals with an emphatic 3-0 win in the second semifinals of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) at the Gachibowli indoor stadium, in Hyderabad, on Friday.
Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth won their respective singles matches, while Satwik Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa triumphed in the mixed doubles to help India outclass Malaysia in the final and clinch the gold medal in the Mixed Team badminton gold medal match at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Olympic silver medallist shuttler PV Sindhu admitted that there is more responsibility on her shoulders post the Rio Games as everyone now wants her to achieve more laurels for the country. Sindhu, who was here to receive Rs 30 lakhs from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) as prize money for winning silver in Rio Olympics, said she is focused on keeping things simple despite the responsibility. "Definitely there is more responsibility and everybody's eyes are on me to achieve more. That is there but I said to myself I should not take too much pressure. My aim is to keep playing well. After the Olympics, I have won a Superseries and I have done well," the lanky Hyderabadi shuttler said.
Indian shuttlers Ajay Jayaram and B Sai Praneeth advanced to the semi-finals of the $55,000 Canada Open Grand Prix badminton tournament after notching up contrasting victories in the men's singles competition in Calgary, Canada.
If you want to see what India should be like and how Indians should live, you have to see Bhilai, says Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
>There's still hope and plenty to play for, says Rediff.com's Aruneel Sadadekar.
The sheer diversity of medal winners was a heartwarming aspect of the Games for India. There were medals from squash, although not gold, there were nine medals from boxing, 12 from wrestling, 16 from shooting and nine from weightlifting.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was left red-faced during Sunday's felicitation ceremony to award cash prize to Asian Games medallists as the parent body got multiple names wrong on the cheques and even missed out on one.
India's 572 athletes hope to return home with an overflowing treasure chest of medals.
'Many of us hope that India will soon play well enough to be part of truly global sporting tournaments like the football World Cup and the Olympics,' says Aakar Patel.
It was a day when India counted the silvers, a total of five, even though there was no gold in the tally.
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