Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal's dream of winning her maiden All England Championship went up in smoke as the Indian suffered a straight-game defeat to World No. 8 Intanon Ratchanok of Thailand in the semifinals of the women's singles competition in Birmingham on Saturday.
Saina Nehwal and Sikki Reddy will clash in the girls' final of the Commonwealth Youth Games badminton tournament. In Thursday's semi-finals, Saina beat England's Panuga Riou 21-12, 21 10, while Sikki Reddy accounted for Malaysia's Tiffany Chase Currier, winning 21-16, 21-9.
The Indian ace proved too good for Soo Young Jang of Korea at the World Junior Badminton Championships.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
Upbeat over winning the China Open and moving up to the fourth spot in the latest BWF rankings, star shuttler Saina Nehwal says she is working on becoming the best in the world.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal fears that mass pull out by top athletes from the Commonwealth Games will rob spectators of a chance to witness some great contests.
Saina Nehwal scored her first victory in three matches at the Superseries Finals, beating Korea's Bae Yeon Ju in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
Gearing up for her return after a month-long break, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal said she has regained full fitness and would be at the top of her game during next week's Japan Open Super Series. Saina was down with chicken pox weeks before the World Badminton Championship last month but the Hyderabadi battled on to become the first Indian to reach the quarter-finals of the blue-ribbon event.
India's Saina Nehwal moved to the second round of the women's singles in the Yonex Korea Super Series 2009 after Charmaine Reid of Canada gave her a walkover in the opener in Seoul on Tuesday.
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.
Denmark's Tine Rasmussen reached the final of the women's singles at the All England Badminton Championships for the third year in succession after edging past gallant Indian seventh seed Saina Nehwal 21-19, 21-17.
Back to training after going through a rigorous rehabilitation process, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal said she is working hard to make a return at the China Super Series Premier but will take a call only after consulting her physio Heath Matthews.
The unseeded Indian duo had to toil hard for 58 minutes to win its round of 16 clash
Saina Nehwal's quarter-final jinx at the World Badminton Championships continued, as the ace Indian shuttler suffered a straight-games defeat to world No 3 Wang Xin and bowed out of the women's singles at Wembley Arena, London, on Friday. Jwala Gutta and Ashiwni Ponnappa, however, scripted history, becoming India's first-ever women's doubles pair to make it to the semi-finals of a World Championships.
She is inching closer to being among the world's top five and is tipped to be number one in the next couple of years but ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal says being numero uno is still a very distant dream.
Badminton ace Saina Nehwal, who recently won the Indonesian Open, on what it takes to be a champion.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal feels that year 2015 is one of the best of her career but rued that a series of injuries affected her chances of winning more titles.
PV Sindhu advanced to the quarterfinals of Badminton Asia Championships
The teen ace is seeded second in the July 3-9 tournament in Kuala Lumpur.
After sneaking into the elite zone of top-10 players in the world India top women's shuttler Saina Nehwal has set her eyes on breaking into top-five bracket by the end of next year. The Hyderabadi ace, brimming with confidence, said she is in no mood to relax and will do whatever it takes to grab a place in the top-five ranking.
The Indian ace lost to World No 5 Hongyan Pi of France 12-21, 21-18, 21-16 in the second round of the women's singles of the Super Series on Thursday.
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal was beaten in straight games by world number one Yihan Wang in the women's singles semifinals at the London Olympics on Friday but remained in the medal hunt as she will be competing in the bronze medal play-off.
India's campaign at the All England Badminton Championships came to a disappointing end with Saina Nehwal, B Sai Praneeth, Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma all exiting from the tournament in Birmingham on Friday.
London Olympics bronze-medallist Saina trounced Malaysia's Jin Wei Goh 21-12, 21-14 in 37 minutes to set up a women's singles quarter-final with 2013 World champion and second seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand. In the men's singles, Srikanth defeated Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro 21-19, 21-12 in 34 minutes.
Saina Nehwal advanced to the second round with an easy victory, but it was a disappointing day for Indians overall, as Parupalli Kashyap and P V Sindhu failed to cross the opening round in the Hong Kong Super Series on Wednesday. Looking for her first title this season, world No 7 Saina hardly broke a sweat as she outplayed Indonesia's Bellaetrix Manuputty 21-14, 21-16 in 34 minutes.
Reacting to Nehwal's tweet almost one-and-a-half-hour later, Rashtriya Lok Dal president Chaudhary tweeted, "Sarkaari shuttler recognises BJP skill in smashing peoples' verdict! I think voters need to play a subtle drop shot on celebs trying to influence their decisions!."
India's best bet for a badminton medal at the Asian Games, Saina Nehwal, starts her campaign in the individual competitions at the Tianhe Gymnasium in Guangzhou on Wednesday.
Two-time All England champion Tine Baun is confident that she and Indian ace Saina Nehwal are good enough to topple the formidable Chinese players at the London Olympics and win medals.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal notched up a comfortable straight-game victory over Hong Kong's Pui Yin Yip to start her India Open Super Series campaign on a positive note, in New Delhi, on Wednesday.
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.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal hardly showed any fatigue from a recent bout of chickenpox as she stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of World Badminton Championships with a straight-game victory over Russian Anastasia Prokopenko in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
National coach Pullela Gopichand, on Saturday, said that the loss of form of ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, whose campaign in the Japan Open Super Series ended in semi-finals, was not a cause of concern.
Saina Nehwal, who was forced to skip the National Badminton Championships because of a shoulder injury, is hoping to be back on court at the All England Super Series, from March 3 to 8.
The players will get tested again for the second time on Monday.
With Marin suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) -- the ligament that stabilizes the knee -- and world no 1 Tai Tzu Ying also recuperating from a wrist injury, Vimal feels Indian duo of Saina and P V Sindhu will have a great chance to end India's wait for an All England title.
Nehwal has had a troubled run in this year as she has now faced exits from a tournament in the first round five times.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal started her campaign at the World Badminton Championships with a straight-set demolition of Chloe Magee of Ireland to advance to the pre-quarterfinals of the women's singles in London.
Going through a purple patch, Saina Nehwal has nothing to complaint about her form and all the ace shuttler now wants is to steer clear of injuries so that she can give her best in the Commonwealth and Asian Games later this year.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal earned India its third medal at the London Games, clinching a bronze under fortuitous circumstances.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal romped into the quarter-finals of the women's singles after notching a comfortable straight-game victory over Dutch Jie Yao in the London Olympics. The world No 5 Indian tired out the Dutch girl by engaging her in rallies and executing her strokes with perfection to emerge victorious 21-14, 21-16 in 40 minutes at the Wembley Arena.
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