Chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand on Monday singled out world number one doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as favourites for an Olympic medal and said two-time medallist PV Sindhu too is on the right path and can deliver once again at the Paris Games.
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'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.'
The India Open badminton tournament, which was scheduled for May 11-16 in New Delhi, has been postponed due to a rise in COVID-19 cases in the country's capital, Badminton Association of India (BAI) said on Monday.
The Badminton Association of India are hoping to finalise the duo's appointments by the end of this month.
India's campaign came to a premature end as double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu crashed out in the pre-quarterfinals of the Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500 badminton tournament on Thursday.
Indian boys Chirag Shetty and Vaibhav Bhisne won the doubles under-15 title at the Yonex Sunrise badminton tournament in Jakarta, Indonesia, defeating the favoured host pairing of Dheva Anrimusthi and Rizky Adam 21-13, 23-21.
'The boys did it. First-ever Thomas Cup for India.'
Kevin Cordon's fairytale run in the Tokyo Olympics men's singles came to an end on Sunday when the Guatemalan was knocked out 21-18, 21-11 by world number two Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
Indian duo K Nandagopal and K Maneesha clinched the Li-Ning Maldives International Badminton Challenge mixed-doubles title after registering a straight-game victory over Dae Sung Kim and Bo Kyung Oh of Korea in Male on Sunday.
Indian pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand's women's doubles campaign at the Macau Open Super 300 badminton tournament came to an end as they lost to Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Pei Shan and Hung En-Tzu in the semifinals in Macau on Saturday.
India Open winner Lakshya Sen and Mithun Manjunath gave a good account of themselves.
India schedule for the fifth day of the Paris Paralympics on Monday.
Chief national coach P Gopichand, on Tuesday, hailed the depth Indian badminton has achieved over the years, saying the team is no more dependent on one or two players.
Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha feels the axing of medal-yielding sports such as wrestling, hockey and badminton from the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games programme is "disappointing" for the country but the approach to reduce cost would ensure that the event continues to find hosts in future.
'The loveliest surprise at the Olympics was having Chiru Uncle and the whole family, including the sweetest Kaara, for my first match in Paris'.
Tunjung dominated early using her delectable drops to good use and race to an 11-4 lead at the break. With Sindhu struggling with her strokes, it was all over too soon.
Anmol Kharb achieved a remarkable feat by securing her second consecutive title on Sunday, winning the Poland International with a straight-game victory over Switzerland's Milena Schnider
PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen progressed to the second round with superlative wins in the women's and men's singles events at the China Masters
P V Sindhu survived a scare before beating unheralded compatriot Ira Sharma in three games to enter the women's singles quarter-finals at the Syed Modi International Super 300 badminton tournament.
India's challenge came to a premature halt at the Indian Open Grand Prix badminton tournament with both P Kashyap and PV Sindhu crashing out in the semi-finals of their respective singles event in Hyderabad on Saturday.
The fifth seed Indian lost 21-12, 10-21, 19-21 in his opening round men's singles tie that lasted 56 minutes.
Tokyo gold medallist para shuttler Pramod Bhagat will not be able to defend his title at the Paris Paralympics after he was handed a 18-month suspension for breaching BWF's anti-doping whereabouts clause.
No Indian athlete since Independence has won multiple medals at a single Games.
The Indian badminton team went down fighting against hosts South Korea (1-3) in the women's team badminton semi-finals to settle for their maiden bronze medal at the Asian Games in Incheon on Sunday.
Kidambi Srikanth, whose stature has grown immensely following a phenomenal 2017, was nominated for the prestigious Padma Shri award by former Sports Minister Vijay Goel.
India blanked Scotland 5-0 to enter the quarterfinals of the badminton mixed team event, displaying tremendous form en route to their third successive clean sweep at the Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, on Friday.
No Indian features in the men's singles and men's doubles events.
Young Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen took to social media and said that his debut Olympics was both an honour and a heartbreak.
'In women's singles now, there are a lot of long rallies and long matches, being consistent. I am confident in that now.'
With both their singles and doubles challengers crashing out in the opening round itself, India's campaign came to a disappointing end in the Swiss Open Super Series badminton tournament in St Jakobshalle, Switzerland.
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'The league will begin as a city-based franchise setup, starting with six cities.'
India cruised to a 3-0 win over minnows South Africa to progress to the semifinals
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PV Sindhu says if she remains injury-free and in peak physical condition, she will aim for a third medal.
Indian badminton team created history on Sunday as they lifted the Thomas Cup trophy for the very first time.
India is hoping to win more than 25 medals from its largest-ever contingent of 84 athletes at the upcoming Paris Paralympic Games beginning on August 28
Malvika Bansod pulled off a sensational straight-game victory over Paris Olympics bronze medallist Gregoria Mariska Tanjong of Indonesia in the women's singles opening round.
Manu Bhaker and partner Sarabjot Singh will compete in the 10m air pistol mixed team bronze medal play-off match on Tuesday.
