Coaching is the toughest job: Saina Nehwal on her future
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday.
Sindhu dished out a compact game to outwit Sayaka 21-17, 21-16 in a second round match on Thursday to set up a clash with seventh seeded Chinese He Bingjiao.
Ashmita Chaliha produced a gallant fight before the young and inexperienced Indian women's team suffered a 0-3 loss to formidable Japan in the quarterfinals of the Uber Cup badminton tournament in Chengdu on Thursday.
None of the other three quarters boast of such a strong star cast but there would be a few mouth-watering opening round clashes to look forward to.
India's double Olympics medallist P V Sindhu continued her impressive run at the French Open badminton tournament, sailing into the women's singles semi-finals with a straight-game win over Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan, in Paris, on Friday. Sindhu, seeded third, scripted a convincing 21-14, 21-14 win over eighth seeded in 38 minutes to extend her head-to-head record against the Thai to 14-1.
Indian shuttler Sourabh Varma reached the semi-finals of the Belgian International Challenge after an easy victory over Kieran Merrilees of Scotland in the men's singles competition in Leuven, Belgium, on Friday.
Davis Cupper Vishnu Vardhan crashed out of the men's singles pre-quarterfinals of the $15,000 CCI-ITF men's Futures Tennis tournament in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The Indian men's team did almost the unthinkable by beating fancied Japan 3-1 in the quarter-finals to assure the country its first-ever medal in table tennis in the history of the Asian Games, in Jakarta, on Monday.
Track and field athletes led India's gold rush on the third day of competitions at the 13th South Asian Games as the country added a whopping 29 medals to jump to the top of the medals tally, in Kathmandu, on Wednesday.
H S Prannoy stunned World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in straight games to storm into the men's singles quarterfinals but India suffered huge setback in women's event with both Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu crashing out of the Indonesia Super Series Premier in Jakarta on Thursday.
Manika will clash with world No. 23 Chen Szu Yu from Taipei in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Seventh seed Sindhu lost 14-21 18-21 to Bing Jiao in the women's singles.
Srikanth had last reached the quarterfinals at the Singapore Open in April.
Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee shocked world champion Chinese pair Chen Meng and Yidi Wang to enter the women's doubles semifinals
India's squash ace Dipika Pallikal will be in action against the formidable Nicol David in the semi-final round on Monday, the third day of the Asian Games.
Taking the Indian challenge forward, P V Sindhu progressed to the women's singles quarter-finals after a tough win over Yu Po Pai in the USD 120,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, in Basel on Thursday. Sindhu overcame the challenge of the Taipei shuttler 21- 16 21-16 in the second round. However, B Sai Parineeth, who had eked out a memorable win over legendary Lee Chong Wei at the All England championship, made an exit from the event after losing 19-21 6-21 to second seed Tien Chen Chou from Taipei in the men's singles pre-quarterfinals.
Indian shuttler Kiran George says his giant-killing act at the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament earlier this year gave him the self-belief, which proved to be the key en route his second BWF title at the Indonesia Masters.
Six medals from a 117-strong contingent is not ideal but India had its moments of joy, hope, frustration, and heartache.
Double Olympic medallist, Sindhu faces top seed and World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals. Ying beat Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour 21-10, 19-21, 21-11 to advance.
Prannoy reached the World Championships on previous two occassions.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Wednesday fought hard to defeat Indonesia's Hanna Ramadini and enter the second round in the women's singles event of the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament. Saina defeated World No. 44 Hanna 21-23, 21-14, 21-18 in a match that lasted more than an hour. She will take on Dinar Dyah Ayustine in the second round.
Indian shuttler HS Prannoy grabbed his career-best world number 12 spot.
Aman Sehrawat is the first Indian male wrestler to secure berth for the Paris Olympic Games
Satwiksairaj and Ashwini showed top-notch fighting spirit before going down
The 14-year-old Unnati pipped Malvika 24-22, 24-22 in a nail-biting 50-minute semifinal clash
Srikanth was to play against Momota in the first round on Wednesday but the Japanese world number one pulled out of the tournament on Tuesday
The Indian men's team, led by Srikanth, had beaten powerhouse and 14-time champions Indonesia in the final to win the country's maiden Thomas Cup title on Sunday.
Indian shuttlers Ajay Jayaram, R M V Gurusaidutt and Sai Praneeth entered the pre-quarterfinals of the men's singles event at the $120,000 US Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament after victories over their respective opponents.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on the sixth day of the Asian Games.
Saina showed signs of regaining her form on her way to a sensational win over Chinese world number 9 He Bing Jiao
Priyanshu Rajawat suffered a 13-21, 14-21, loss to Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama, while Aakarshi Kashyap went down 18-21, 10-21 to German Yvonne Li.
Top Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Ajay Jayaram notched up contrasting victories in the women's and men's singles competition respectively to reach the semi-finals of the $120,000 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold, in Kuching.
Top seed P V Sindhu advanced to the second round of the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament after recording a win over Singapore's Chena Jiayuan.
Indian shuttler Anand Pawar notched up a straight-game win over sixth seed Viktor Axelsen to join compatriot Ajay Jayaram in the pre-quarterfinals of the German Open badminton championship in M lheim an der Ruhr, Germany.
Two-time champion and top seed Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu reached the pre-quarterfinals of the $ 120,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold in Basel.
Check out the complete schedule of Indian athletes at the Tokyo Olympics
The Indian kabaddi contingent made an impressive start to its campaign at the 18th Asian Games with the women's team mauling Japan and the men's side beating Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in Jakarta on Sunday.
Top Indian shuttlers, PV Sindhu and Parupalli Kashyap advanced to the women's singles quarter-finals and men's singles pre-quarterfinals, respectively, of the $120,000 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold in Kuching.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
