Sania Mirza, the tennis icon, made a dazzling entry at the fifth Indian Sports Honours event, donning a stunning floral blazer suit.
Shocked at the way Lakshya Sen succumbed to pressure in the men's singles badminton bronze medal play-off at the Paris Olympics, the legendary Prakash Padukone said it's high time players learn to withstand pressure, become accountable and start delivering results after receiving support.
Two-time Olympic medallist shuttler PV Sindhu pulled out of the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship in China due to a hamstring issue, dealing a huge blow to the country's chances of improving the colour of their medal in the prestigious edition.
Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth will meet compatriot HS Prannoy in his opening match, while former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap will square off against a qualifier.
With five titles under his belt, Lakshya Sen was racing towards the top echelons of international badminton before his stunning run was halted by the coronavirus pandemic, which brought all sporting action to a halt across the world. With the world in lockdown to contain the deadly disease, Lakshya too is enduring the uncertain times within the confines of his apartment, near the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) in Bengaluru.
Kidambi Srikanth's opening round match ended in agony as he retired due to a knee injury after lagging 14-21, 3-11 against Japan's fifth seed Kodai Naraoka.
In what was India's first-ever appearance in the tournament finale, they defeated the record 14-time champions Indonesia 3-0 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand to lift the Thomas Cup 2022 title.
Anmol Kharb continued her impressive run, defeating top seed Anupama Upadhyaya in straight games in the women's singles final to clinch the gold medal at the 38th National Games.
The 24-year-old from Amalapuram expressed his gratitude to his partner for being there during this challenging time.
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.
Defending champion Lakshya Sen looked in fine fettle as he registered a straight-game win over compatriot H S Prannoy to make a winning start to his title defence at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super 750 badminton tournament, in Delhi, on Tuesday.
Expectations from the Indian male shuttlers will also be high, given their exploits in recent months.
P V Sindhu, H S Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth booked their places in the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament.
Padukone said it's high time that players learn to withstand pressure, take responsibility, and deliver results after receiving significant support from the government.
Ten years ago, Prakash Padukone had predicted the rise of Lakshya Sen.
The top Indian players, including Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Srikanth have failed to lift the prestigious trophy
India's schedule on Day 7 of the Paris Olympics on Friday.
Lakshya Sen's stunning win over Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie went in vain as the Indian men's badminton team went down fighting 2-3 to two-time defending champions Indonesia in the semi-finals to settle for a bronze at the Asia Team Championships in Manila on Saturday.
Rising Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod continued her impressive form this year, pulling off a stunning upset against world No. 23 Sung Shuo Yun of Chinese Taipei to advance to the women's singles pre-quarterfinals of the Arctic Open Super 500 tournament on Tuesday.
Indian shuttlers who competed at the Paris Olympics, including PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, are giving the tournament, the year's final BWF Super 1000 event, a miss.
Kidambi outperforms Sen, Sameer scores upset win
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, on the other hand, moved one place to 31st.
Prannoy and Sen played five times in 2022 with Sen coming into the match with a slender 3-2 advantage.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Lakshya Sen sails into third round of World Championships
Sen rallied from a game deficit to defeat Yusuke Onodera of Japan
PM Modi met in person and interacted with the badminton squad
The Indian badminton team returned empty-handed from the Olympics for the first time in over a decade.
Sen, a product of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, has been in the form of his life for about a year now.
His backhand blocks and forehand low returns reaped dividends but an alert Gemke managed to grab a four-point cushion at the interval.
Check out how India's athletes fared on Day 5, Wednesday, July 31, 2024:
While India have never won the gold at the Asia Mixed Team Championships, they did secure mixed team gold and silver at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022.
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 fifth seed Indian lost 21-12, 10-21, 19-21 in his opening round men's singles tie that lasted 56 minutes.
Kidambi Srikanth, Priyanshu Rajawat and Kiran George won their respective men's singles round-of 16 matches to advance to the quarterfinals late on Thursday night.
Despite the name, Indian success at the tournament hasn't been particularly regular with none from the host nation winning any title in the past two editions.
'It was tough financially for the first few years but my friends and family supported me and once he did well at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, there was no looking back.'
P V Sindhu eased into the second round with a straight-game win after fellow Indian Lakshya Sen showed his mettle with a stunning victory over world No. 10 Japanese Kanta Tsuneyama on the opening day of Indonesia Masters Super 750 in Bali on Tuesday.
Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila outclassed Adnan Maulana and Indah Cahya Sari Jamil in straight games in the first round match.
India's badminton ace P V Sindhu entered the summit clash of BWF World Tour Finals with a hard fought win over Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the semi-finals, in Bali, on Saturday.
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