Leander Paes feels India will find it tough in singles but the country can hope to win a medal in the Asian Games
Indian shuttler Anand Pawar went down fighting against Zulfadli Zulkiffli of Malaysia in a thrilling men's singles final of the Brazil Open Grand Prix, in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, on Sunday.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu survived some tense moments before progressing to the women's singles second round, but it was curtains for Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth in the men's singles at the Badminton Asia Championships, in Ningbo, China, on Wednesday.
The year 2023 will go down as extremely memorable for the Indian sports fraternity as players across various disciplines came together to script history at the Asian Games held in Hangzhou.
Six medals from a 117-strong contingent is not ideal but India had its moments of joy, hope, frustration, and heartache.
In an open letter, BWF secretary general Thomas Lund said the decision to go ahead with the All England Championships was made based on the best advice at that time. "It has been very disappointing to see some members of the badminton community speculate on the sincerity and motives of the BWF in this time of crisis," Lund wrote.
The Indian mixed badminton team claimed its maiden Commonwealth Games gold medal, thrashing three-time defending champions Malaysia in the final, in Gold Coast.
Check out how India's athletes fared on Day 10, Monday, August 5, 2024:
He was clearly disappointed to miss out the Indian Open title, but star Indian shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy on Sunday said "losing is better than winning always" and hoped the defeat in the final will spur him and his doubles partner Chirag Shetty to win a bigger crown in coming days.
Check out how India's athletes fared on Day 8, Saturday, August 3, 2024:
Their dreams of a maiden Grand Prix gold title went up in smoke after the Indian men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy suffered a straight-game loss in the final of the US Open badminton tournament in New York on Sunday.
How India's athletes fared at the Paris Paralympic Games on Friday.
'In the last few months, we have been pushing ourselves and training hard. Even in the pandemic, we continued to train under the guidance of Gaurav Khanna sir and never deterred from our focus.'
Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal opens her campaign in the India Open World Super Series tournament against Asian Games bronze medallist Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong. The event, which begins in Delhi on April 24, will double up as the final qualifying meet for the London Olympics.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty enjoyed another memorable 'Evening in Paris', lifting the French Open badminton crown for the second time with a dominating straight-game victory over Chinese Taipei's Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan in the men's doubles final in Paris on Sunday.
The top-seeded Indian pair lost in straight games against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana of Indonesia in Birmingham on Thursday.
India is being represented by 487 athletes in more than 15 disciplines.
Former champion PV Sindhu progressed to the women's singles second round but Lakshya Sen went down fighting to world number one Viktor Axelsen at the Singapore Open Super 750 badminton tournament in Singapore on Wednesday.
Chief National coach Pullela Gopichand, who guided India to two Olympic medals, has opted out of India's Olympics-bound badminton contingent to create space for Indonesia's Agus Dwi Santosa, who trains singles shuttler B Sai Praneeth.
The emotional and financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic is weighing on Indian shuttler HS Prannoy's mind and he believes that the already "bleak" scenario would only get worse if things don't take a turn for the better in one and a half month's time. The coronavirus outbreak, which has killed over 40,000 globally, has put countries in lockdown and halted sports, including badminton, across the world. It has also triggered financial and mental woes across the world.
Saini, who had won the compound mixed team gold with Pragati, made amends in the bronze place playoff, when he beat Frenchman Victor Bouleau 148-146 to sign off with three medals (one gold, two bronze).
Ace Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth sailed into the pre-quarterfinals of their respective singles events after scoring comfortable victories at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Thursday.
In yet another fascinating day of Indian Badminton League, Banga Beats thrashed Awadhe Warriors 4-1.
Lakshya had struggled through much of 2023 and early part of 2024. He fell behind in the qualification race but turned things around in time with two semi-final finishes at the All England Championship and the French Open to seal his place in the Olympics.
2023 was marked by outstanding sporting achievements, shattered records, and the crowning of new champions, all captured by photographers documenting every significant twist and turn.
'Vinesh you are a gold medalist of courage and morality.'
Jwala Gutta launched a verbal tirade against the Badminton Association of India on Friday, saying the decision to recommend a life ban on her has only made it a laughing stock.
Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth opened his campaign at the Thailand Masters badminton tournament with a straight game win over Chinese Taipei's Wang Tzu Wei in Bangkok on Wednesday.
Tennis star Rohan Bopanna, who is set to be crowned world number one in the doubles format, was on Thursday selected for the prestigious Padma Shri honour by the government along with six other athletes including veteran squash player Joshna Chinappa.
The struggle of Indian women shuttlers on the BWF circuit is quite apparent, but Saina Nehwal backs her colleagues by saying that even the strong Chinese players are finding it difficult to dish out strong performances on a consistent basis and expressed hope that the lean patch of the singles players will end soon.
The quarter-finals bug bit Saina Nehwal yet again at the badminton World Championships.
Ace Indian shuttler P V Sindhu scored an upset victory over top seed Ji Hyun Sung in a hard-fought three setter to storm into the women's singles final of the $120,000 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Penang on Saturday.
Former world champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu's proposal to train in Paris ahead of the Olympic Games was on Monday cleared by the government.
Lakshya Sen and Kiran George advanced to the second round but HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth made early exits after suffering narrow losses in their respective opening matches at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The former All England champion will be in charge of the team till the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Indian badminton player Jwala Gutta, on Tuesday, raked up past complaints of 'mental harassment' and selection biases, saying that what she went through fell under the ambit of the ongoing Me Too movement.
Priyanshu toiled hard for one hour 14 minutes before losing 21-18, 14-21, 17-21.
Rankireddy and Shetty, who created history on Sunday by becoming the first Indian men's doubles pair to win a BWF Super 500 tournament, are placed ninth in the men's doubles rankings issued on Tuesday.
In mixed doubles, K Sai Pratheek and Tanisha Crasto prevailed 21-18, 21-14 over Macau's Leong Iok Chong and Weng Chi NG to make a winning start.
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