Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and H S Prannoy registered fighting victories in the last eight contests at the $120,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Basel on Friday.
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.
It was heartbreak for P V Sindhu at the World Badminton Championships. The Indian shuttler had to settle for a second consecutive bronze medal after succumbing to Carolina Marin of Spain in the semi-finals, in Copenhagen, on Saturday.
Sindhu, seeded fourth in the tournament, lost 21-15, 14-21, 22-24 against her eighth-seeded Chinese opponent in the quarter-final contest that lasted one hour and 17 minutes.
Pullela Gopichand expects Indian athletes to claim an unparalleled double digit medal haul at the Olympics
H S Prannoy signed off with a bronze -- India's first medal in men's singles at the Asian Games in 41 years,.
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.
Sourabh Verma and Ajay Jayram also entered the second round
The 25-year-old Indian, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from injuries, beat Mithun 21-9, 21-15 in just 31 minutes to set up a title clash with Japan's Koki Watanabe on Sunday.
Morarji Desai was 81 when he was elected prime minister and ruled India for two years, from March 1977 to July 1999.
PM Modi met in person and interacted with the badminton squad
With a jam-packed schedule brimming with both legendary athletes and captivating storylines, Paris 2024 promises unforgettable moments.
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.
Sen, a product of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, has been in the form of his life for about a year now.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal wants Bajirao Mastani actress Deepika Padukone to portray her in the upcoming biopic on herself.
The Indian team will next face Hong Kong China and Malaysia on Saturday.
Struggling with a sore back, ace shuttler V Diju and his mixed doubles partner Jwala Gutta suffered a straight-game defeat to South Korea's Sung Hyun Ko and Jung Eun in the quarter-finals of the World badminton Championships in Paris on Friday. The ninth seed Indians lost 16-21, 19-21 to the 12th seeds in a 31-minute battle, ending India's hopes in the mixed doubles category.
Marin retained the world title with a 21-16, 21-19 win over the Indian ace.
Pramod and Manishaa Ramdass also secured a bronze medal in mixed doubles (SL3-SU5) category.
Praggnanandhaa said just talking to the Indian chess wizard (Anand) boosts his confidence.
Indian shuttlers Gayatri Vartak and PC Tulashi failed to make it to the main draw of the Asian Badminton Championship after losing their respective matches at the qualifying round of the prestigious event being staged at the Siri Fort Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The fourth seed defeated Aamir Ghaffar of England 21-17, 18-21, 21-13 in the bronze play-off match
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal overcame a jittery start to defeat spirited Korean Seung Hee Bae and enter the second round of the All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham.
The 23-year-old remains India's 'silver girl', having lost finals at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and two world championships before Tuesday's Asian Games title showdown defeat to world number one Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lakshya Sen, Tokyo Olympic B Sai Praneeth and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde will be in action later on Wednesdat.
'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.'
India's Saina Nehwal cruised into the quarter-finals of the World Badminton Championships, defeating Russia's Ella Diehl in the third round of the women's singles event in Paris on Thursday.
England have withdrawn two players from next week's India Open badminton tournament due to security concerns, Indian media reported on Saturday.
The Indian mixed doubles team of V Diju and Jwala Gutta eased into the third round beating Malaysia's Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh at the World badminton Championships in Paris, on Tuesday.
Sathish Kumar wins men's singles title, Tanisha-Dhruv claim mixed doubles crown at Odisha Masters
Prannoy will take on Rajawat in the second round.
Sindhu was completely overpowered in the second as Fang Jie upped her game and gave little room to the Indian to approach the net and play her drop shots.
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.
In the men's doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty maintained their world number two ranking, although they lost in the quarter-finals of the World Championships going down to Kim Astrup-Anders Rasmussen.
Leading the congratulatory messages from the film industry for the ace shuttler were Aamir Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
India's Saina Nehwal breezed into the women's singles World Badminton Championships final after beating local girl Lindaweni Fanetri in Jakarta, on Saturday.
Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday praised star pacer Mohammed Shami and para-archer Sheetal Devi after being honoured with the Arjuna Award in Delhi.
Saina Nehwal beat third seed Shixian Wang of China 22-20, 21-12 in the semi-finals of the girls' singles. However, another Indian, fifth seed Gurusaidutt's lost to third seed Zhengming Wang of China 16-21, 21-17, 17-21 in the semi-finals of the boys' singles.
Top seed Kidambi Srikanth entered the quarter-finals but a heartbreak was in store for P V Sindhu, who suffered a shock defeat to Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand in the second round of the $120,000 Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, in Lucknow, on Thursday.
It's going to be a hell of journey, says Sindhu welcoming new coach Hafiz Hashim
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