Two-time Olympic-medallist P V Sindhu made a winning return from a lengthy injury lay-off as India stunned formidable China 3-2 in the women's competition of the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Shah Alam, Malaysia on Wednesday.
India's leading badminton player Saina Nehwal has dropped four places to be No 9 in the latest world rankings while P V Sindhu remains No 10 despite winning a silver medal in the Rio Olympics.
No Indians featured in the women's doubles and mixed doubles rankings.
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.
P V Sindhu suffered a straight-game loss to world champion Nozomi Okuhara to crash out but Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy advanced to the quarterfinals of the $ 325,000 Japan Open Super Series, in Tokyo, on Thursday.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who is returning from an ankle injury, begins her campaign against former World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the first round of Malaysia Open.
H S Prannoy outwitted World No 2 and title favourite Kidambi Srikanth in a thrilling final to win the men's singles title at the 82nd Senior National Championship, in Nagpur on Wednesday.
Though Sindhu decided against travelling to Denmark, she plans to participate in the Asia Open-I and Asia Open-II scheduled to be held in November.
India's top shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will be seen in action for the first time since the coronavirus-forced break when they compete in three upcoming tournaments in Bangkok, including the prestigious BWF World Tour Finals.
Following is India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Wednesday, October 4.
Lakshya Sen mounted a remarkable comeback to become the first male Indian shuttler to qualify for the singles semi-finals at the Olympic Games.
P Kashyap insisted that he too has an outside chance of qualifying for the Tokyo Games but he has no way to pursue it as he can't train at the camp.
Check out how India's athletes fared on Day 6, Thursday, August 1, 2024:
Saina, who was looking good at the start of the season, was diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis with mild pancreatitis which affected her performance at the All England Championship.
Star India shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth notched up comfortable victories but it was young Mumbai player Harsheel Dani who hogged the limelight at the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold when he stunned H S Prannoy in straight games to storm into the quarter-finals in Lucknow on Thursday.
India's schedule on Day 9 of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, on Sunday.
Following her bronze-medal finish at the recently-concluded World badminton Championships, India's top shuttler P V Sindhu has re-entered the top-10 in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings, released on Thursday.
P V Sindhu will be eager to return to the podium as former winner Saina Nehwal looks to regain her touch
P V Sindhu and H S Prannoy advanced to the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Crowned the world number one, Saina Nehwal celebrated her numero uno status with a straight-game demolition of Japanese Yui Hashimoto, while Kidambi Srikanth too saw off Xue Song of China to reach their maiden finals at the Yonex Sunrise India Super Series.
Injured HS Prannoy's absence hurt India as they went down fighting 2-3 against badminton powerhouse China
The world body has so far maintained that it has no plans to make any adjustments to the regulations related to the Tokyo Games qualification period and that other events will go as per schedule.
With the main draw of the Asian Badminton Championships set to get underway from Wednesday, the struggling Indian shuttlers face an uphill task.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
The Birmingham showpiece will be held from July 28 to August 8.
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal on Monday stressed on the importance of taking necessary precautions in the next two weeks to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has created a global upheaval. Former World No 1 Kidambi Srikanth also took to twitter, urging people to help each other instead of panicking.
PM Modi met in person and interacted with the badminton squad
In the men's doubles however, the Indian pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila lost to 11th seeded Russian pair of Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov 11-21, 16-21 in a second round match that lasted 41 minutes.
However, the Indian duo of Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan suffered a crushing 8-21, 4-21 loss to Denmark's Mathias Thyrri and Mai Surrow, the mixed doubles first round match lasting barely 21 minutes.
HS Prannoy becomes the first player to beat Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Victor Axelsen in full a match since March.
Riding on her title-triumph at the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold, India's P V Sindhu, on Thursday, jumped one place to be just outside the top 10 in the latest BWF ranking.
P V Sindhu has made early exits in as many as seven of the 12 BWF World Tour events this year.
Sen, who had emulated his mentor Prakash Padukone by winning the World championship bronze in Huelva, Spain last month, will now look to claim the All England Championships in March.
Disappointed not to get gold but bronze means a lot: Prannoy
PV Sindhu jumped two places to grab the ninth spot, while former World No. 1 Saina, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from a serious injury, slipped five places to 11th spot.
Sindhu, who had finished runner-up at the last edition in Dubai, dished out a superb game, mixing with patience with aggression, to edging the Japanese 24-22, 21-15.
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.
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.
PV Sindhu outclassed Germany's Yvonne Li to cruise into the women's singles quarter-finals of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 event in Bali on Thursday.
