Saina Nehwal went down fighting against former world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the quarter-finals to draw curtains on India's campaign at the Korea Open World Tour Super 500 tournament, on Seoul, on Friday.
It was day of mixed results for India at the US$750,000 Denmark Open Super Series in in Odense on Friday, as Kidambi Srikanth fought back brilliantly to shock World No 1 Victor Axelsen and enter the semis after Saina Nehwal crashed out of the event following her quarter-final loss to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal arrived in Hyderabad on Monday after clinching her third Super Series title of the year at the Hong Kong Open in Wanchai.
'When I played against Sindhu didi in China, I am happy I managed to play better than I did last time.'
The men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their impressive run, progressing to the semi-finals with another stunning victory, but it was curtains for Saina Nehwal at the US $700,000 French Open, in Paris, on Friday.
Title-contenders Saina Nehwal and B Sai Praneeth advanced to prequarter-finals of the Thailand Open after notching up straight-game wins in the women's and men's singles competition respectively.
Saina will next face either Thailand's fourth seed Ratchanok Intanon or Korea's Sung Ji Hyun, while Sindhu will take on the winner of the match between Sri Lanka's Kavidi Sirimannage and Thailand's Nitchaon Jindapol.
Pullela Gopichand, India's chief badminton coach, shares his views on the country's leading female players with Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com.
In women's singles, both Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu climbed up the ladder despite not playing in any recent tournaments.
Saina Nehwal has gained a place to be fifth in the latest Badminton World Federation women's singles rankings released on Thursday.
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.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal reached the quarterfinals without breaking much sweat but it was RMV Gurusaidutt who made heads turn, on Thursday, as he stunned World No. 9 Pengyu Du of China in a thrilling three-game match in the Hong Kong Super Series.
Olympic medallists Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu sailed into the women's singles quarter-finals with straight-game wins but it was curtains for Kidambi Srikanth at the BWF Badminton World Championships, in Nanjing, China on Thursday.
Defending champion Kidambi Srikanth beat compatriot Sameer Verma 22-20, 19-21, 23-21 in an absorbing men's singles quarter-final to enter the semi-finals of the Denmark Open, in Odense, on Friday night. The Indian ace will meet second seeded Japanese and world No 1 Kento Momota, who got the better of Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab 21-13, 21-9 in another quarter-final.
India's top female sportspersons, including ace shuttler PV Sindhu and world champion boxer MC Mary Kom on Saturday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Bharat Ki Laxmi' initiative.
Memories of a path-breaking gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games are still fresh in her mind as Saina Nehwal embarks on a quest to regain the title at the Gold Coast Games starting next week.
Some sportsstars kept celebrations simple while some ushered in the Festival of Lights in style.
It was a day of mixed results for India as B Sai Praneeth sailed into the final with a straight-game win but Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal's campaign ended in the semi-final of the $120000 Thailand Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Bangkok on Saturday.
In other matches, former Singapore Open champion B Sai Praneeth's fight lasted just 35 minutes as he went down 12-21, 17-21 to 24-year-old Ng Ka Long Angus in the second round. It was his third loss to the World No 15 from Hong Kong.
Saina, who has been battling illness and injuries, is going through a bad patch, having lost six times in the first round this season.
A much-anticipated second round meeting of India's top two women shuttlers, world No 1 Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu, failed to materiliaze as the latter came a cropper in her opening match at the Japan Open Super Series badminton tournament, in Tokyo, on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old's comment came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with 2018 Commonwealth Games medallists in the national capital on Monday.
In the quarterfinals, Lakshya will face Malaysian qualifier Leong Jun Hao.
An erratic Saina Nehwal failed to defend her title at the Indonesian Super Series Premier after suffering a three-game defeat to Germany's Juliane Schenk in the semi-finals of the women's singles competition in Indonesia on Saturday.
After Taapsee Pannu, Neha Dhupia, Mandira Bedi and badminton star Saina Nehwal, it is Varun Dhawan's turn to head out to the Maldives.
Taking a jibe at pugilist Vijender Singh and badminton ace Saina Nehwal after the duo advertised their names for the Padma Bhushan, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said it's a great pity that the Indian athletes feel they have to lobby and threaten to receive awards.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal is currently in a tight spot in her bid for a Tokyo Olympics singles berth but a couple of good performances in the coming weeks can put her back in contention, her mentor Parupalli Kashyap said on Friday. Saina, a 2015 World Championship silver medallist and two-time Commonwealth Games champion, is racing against time to make the cut for her fourth successive Olympics.
With Saina Nehwal's gold medal women's badminton singles India finished third on the medals tally at the 21st Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, on Sunday.
All-England and World champion Carolina Marin beat Indian ace Saina Nehwal to win the 'Female Player of the Year' award in Dubai on Monday night. Besides, Saina, Marin, who won five World Superseries titles, held off competition from China's Zhao Yunlei and Bao Yixin.
Badminton is not as popular as cricket in India and therefore comparatively does not attract as many sponsors.
A knee inflammation affected Saina Nehwal's movement in her second group game on Sunday that led to her crashing out of the Rio Olympics, and her personal coach Vimal Kumar said that the star player had to be administered a dexamethasone injection after the opening round match to curb the pain but it didn't have desired results.
Indonesian coach Agus Dwi Santoso has been roped in to guide the singles players -- both men and women -- ahead of Tokyo Olympics. Badminton Association of India (BAI) secretary, Ajay Singhania said the visa process has started and Santoso is likely to join the Indian team in the mid of next month.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal bowed out of the $250,000 India Open Super Series after a straight games defeat to world No 2 Yihan Wang in the quarter-finals of the women's singles at the Siri Fort complex in Delhi on Friday.
Being hounded by eager selfie seekers is something that top level sportspersons are used to but Saina Nehwal's father and PV Sindhu's mother had a surprise 'fan' waiting for them outside the World Badminton Championship venue.
H S Prannoy lost in the opening round even as compatriots Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu entered the second round of the $ 350,000 India Open Super 500 tournament, in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu remained in the hunt for a historic Asian Games gold medal after a tense win but Saina Nehwal settled for a bronze following her 10th straight defeat against World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying.
M C Mary Kom, who is also a sitting Rajya Sabha MP, said the alarming increase in the number of rapes in the country has left her feeling "hurt and helpless" while star shuttler Saina Nehwal condemned the 'ghastly crimes'.
PV Sindhu cruised into the second round but compatriot Saina Nehwal bowed out fighting in the Badminton Asia Championships.
Carolina Marin became the first Spaniard to win the All-England badminton championship when she defeated India's Saina Nehwal 16-21, 21-14, 21-7 in Birmingham on Sunday.
Glasgow World Championship bronze medallist Saina got the better of two-time World champion Marin 22-20, 21-18 and in the process avenged her second round defeat to the Spanish ace at the Japan Open.
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