India's top players, including P V Sindhu, may not be going through the best of times, but national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand is still hopeful of a best-ever Olympics outing in Tokyo. Gopichand has produced two Olympic medallists -- Saina Nehwal (bronze in 2012) and Sindhu (silver in 2016).
Sindhu progressed to the quarterfinals with an easy straight-game win over Japan's Aya Ohori
In other India-related results, it was curtains for Ashmita Chaliha, who lost 17-21, 16-21 to Indonesia's world no. 7 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in 35 minutes. Both teams had received a bye in their opening match.
India's Parupalli Kashyap played one of the longest matches of his career as he roared into the prequarterfinals.
In a men's singles quarter-final match earlier in the day, Sameer Verma too was shown the door after he suffered a 10-21, 12-21 loss to second seed Shi Yuqi of China.
Srikanth lost 21-23, 8-21 to Korea's Chia Hao Lee, continuing his dismal run in international circuit this season.
Indian contingent has an opportunity to go deep in the draw and recapture the trophy which has been won by just two Indians so far -- the legendary Prakash Padukone (1980) and P Gopichand (2001).
Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat stunned top seed Kenta Nishimoto to enter the quarterfinals of the Orleans Masters Super 300 badminton tournament.
The core of the team remains the same with HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in good form and the Indian team would hope the rub of the green also goes their way when it begins campaign on Thursday.
Priyanshu toiled hard for one hour 14 minutes before losing 21-18, 14-21, 17-21.
Rio Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu made a resounding start to her campaign at the Denmark Open, defeating China's He Bingjiao in straight games in the women's singles event of the $700,000 Premier Super Series badminton event in Odense.
Aparna Popat entered the main draw after beating Commonwealth Games champion Li Li of Singapore.
The 16-year-old Indian ace beat Sachiyo Imai of Japan to make the grade at the Philippines Open badminton championships.
Saina Nehwal continued her consistent run in international circuit, reaching yet another semi-final at the $ 200,000 Asia Badminton Championship, in Wuhan, China, on Friday.
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.
A 13-member team, comprising seven men and six women, was on Wednesday selected by the Badminton Association of India to participate in the Li Ning China Masters Super Series tournament to be held in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China from September 13-18.
Three Indians will feature in the semi-finals of the French Open Super Series badminton tournament after Kidambi Srikanth, H S Prannoy and P V Sindhu won their quarter-final matches in Paris on Friday.
Chetan Anand, Abhinn Shyam Gupta and Nikhil Kanetkar advanced to the second round of the All England Open Badminton tournament.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu was the only bright spot on a dismal day for Indian badminton as she progressed to the quarter-finals with a straight-game win at the US $350,000 Thailand Open World Super 500 tournament in Bangkok on Thursday.
Kidambi Srikanth continued his good run as he routed Kenta Nishimoto 21-14, 21-13 in the final to clinch the French Open Super Series title on Sunday.
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu scored contrasting victories to enter the third round of the women's singles at the World Badminton Championships in Guangzhou on Wednesday.
Back on the court after a month, Saina Nehwal will battle it out against a tough field while the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju will aim for a second title at the Japan Open Super Series.
Manjunath will play Taipei's Yu Jen, who was lucky to progress after fifth seed Rasmus Gemke retired in the second game after pocketing the first.
The seventh seeded Indians made good starts but couldn't sustain the pressure in the opening game.
How India's athletes fared at the Paris Paralympic Games on Friday.
India's two top women's singles shuttlers, Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu, have decided to skip the upcoming China Masters Super Series to be held from September 10-15.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Defending champion Saina Nehwal dished out yet another dominating performance, routing Japan's Eriko Hirose 21-9, 21-10 to storm into the final of the Indonesian Open Super Series badminton tournament in Jakarta on Saturday. Saina thus earned a shot at her second successive Super Series title, having won the one in Singapore last week.
Rankireddy and Shetty, who had arrived in Madrid after winning the Swiss Open Super 300 last week, retired from their first-round match
Eight seeded Saina defetaed Okuhara 21-15, 21-14 late last night to improve her head-to-head record to 6-1 against her Japanese opponent.
Later in the day, the new women's doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa lost 13-21, 18-21 to Japan's Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota in the quarter-finals, bringing down the curtain on India's campaign.
With a jam-packed schedule brimming with both legendary athletes and captivating storylines, Paris 2024 promises unforgettable moments.
Over 70 foreign shuttlers, up from 25 entries in the previous year, will take part in the $15,000 Tata Open India International Challenge 2011 to be held at the NSCI courts in Worli from December 14-18.
Kidambi Srikanth and two-time bronze medallist P V Sindhu will headline a 21-member Indian contingent as they gun for the elusive gold medal at the World Badminton Championships starting in Glasgow on Monday.
This year's All-England Championships is likely to mark the final appearance of five-time champion Lin Dan at the sport's oldest event, as the garlanded Chinese player bids for a berth at the Rio Olympics before a possible retirement.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
A year ago, following the World Championships, Sen underwent nasal surgery to treat a deviated septum. What followed was an extended recovery process that took eight months.
'Last year was really, really tough. I was coming back from injury. No active badminton player is (still) playing after two serious injuries but I didn't want to give up because I have something on my mind. I want to win another medal at the Olympics.'
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Olympic medallists Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu will be the cynosure of all eyes when the seventh India Super Series badminton tournament gets underway with the qualifiers in New Delhi on Tuesday.
