H S Prannoy has revealed that he has been battling a chronic gastrointestinal disorder for the past four months
Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will look to arrest their slump in form when they begin their campaign at the Australia Open badminton tournament in Sydney on Tuesday.
Saina Nehwal made a perfect start to the new season, reaching the women's singles final of the $ 350,000 Indonesia Masters with a thrilling straight-game win over world no 4 Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand in Jakarta, on Saturday.
India's star shuttler H S Prannoy doesn't want to think about Paris right now and is instead focussing on "short-term targets" like breaking into the world's top three.
'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.'
Sindhu is the only Indian to feature in the women's singles competition.
Fresh from their Korea Open triumph, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will look to continue their dream run.
On Wednesday, Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, seeded eighth, scraped past the Denmark duo of Amalie Magelund and Freja Ravn 21-9, 17-21, 21-19 in the women's doubles.
H S Prannoy lost a three-game thriller to China's Weng Hong Yang in the men's singles final.
Sindhu looked in complete control as she prevailed 21-15, 21-11 over world No. 36 Tan in a 29-minute match.
Pranoy squandered a one-game advantage to go down 21-17 9-21 17-21 against NG Ka Long after battling for an hour and four minutes
Making his maiden semi-final appearance in a Super 500 tournament, Orleans Masters champion Rajawat gave a good account of himself, putting on a tough fight against sixth seed Prannoy in the opening game.
Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth's wretched run continued as he went down 6-21, 17-21 to fellow-Indian Ajay Jayaram, diminishing his hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo Games.
Saina Nehwal's chances of defending her title at the Commonwealth Games looks bleak as she has decided to skip the selection trials for the upcoming multi-sport events.
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.
London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal has pulled out of the US$350,000 Singapore Super Series to spend more time in training to improve her game ahead of the hectic international circuit.
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.
Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki N Reddy also won their mixed doubles first round match, beating Denmark's Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje 10-21, 21-16, 21-17.
Kiran George lost to World champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters.
The top-seeded Indian pair lost in straight games against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana of Indonesia in Birmingham on Thursday.
"It is a great win and a fantastic start to the season for me. I have been playing well and I was confident of winning ahead of the final," said PV Sindhu.
HS Prannoy had almost given up on winning his next title and breaking a six-year long drought before chief national coach Pullela Gopichand instilled in him the belief.
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.
H S Prannoy stunned two-time defending champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in a thrilling 68-minute quarter-final to ensure a medal for India.
Saina had pulled out of the opening round of All England Open Championships last week after suffering a thigh injury.
Sindhu had been left in tears after an 'unfair' call by the umpires midway
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday.
World No 1 men's shuttler Lee Chong Wei's coach Tey Seu Bock of Malaysia was appointed chief coach of Mumbai Masters for the inaugural Vodafone Indian Badminton League on Sunday.
Prannoy signs off with maiden World Championships bronze medal after losing semifinal to Vitidsarn
Karthikeya Gulshan Kumar produced a thrilling performance
Saina Nehwal defeated Thai Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in straight games to advance to the semi-finals of the World Super Series Masters Finals in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on Friday.
Lakshya Sen dished out a badminton masterpiece to notch up his second BWF Super 500 title with a straight-game win over Li Shi Feng of China in the final.
Gaganjeet Bhullar made a valiant charge on the final day, but eventually finished second behind Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant who maintained his overnight lead to capture his 14th Asian tour title at the Worldwide Selangor Masters in Selangor, Malaysia on Saturday.
Young Indian shuttler H S Prannoy entered his second successive final after beating Malaysia's Daren Liew in the men's singles event at the $1,25,000 Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold.
Indian ace shuttler HS Prannoy produced a remarkable performance as he breezed past Malaysia's Joo Ven Soong to progress through to the second round of the China Masters here on Tuesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
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.
B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, however, suffered a 21-23, 21-13, 12-21 loss against Korean pair of Song hyun Cho and Lee Jung Hyun in their mixed doubles opening round.
Young men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty too entered the quarter-finals after getting past Chinese Taipei's Liao Min Chun and Su Ching Heng 21-17, 21-16 in the second round.
Saina showed signs of regaining her form on her way to a sensational win over Chinese world number 9 He Bing Jiao
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