Rediff.com gives you a glimpse of the stars that lit up the night at the awards ceremony...
London Olympics bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal resumed training at a separate facility in Hyderabad after the COVID-19-induced break and is likely to join the national camp at the Sports Authority of India-Pullela Gopichand Academy in a couple of weeks.
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.
Former World No 1 Saina Nehwal stayed on course for the women's singles title at the season-opening Malaysia Masters after she advanced to the semi-finals of the $US 120,000 Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Sarawak, Malaysia.
Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Ajay Jayaram continued their good run and reached the quarterfinals of the season-opening Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold in Sarawak on Thursday.
Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal clarified that his ministry received the letter of nomination of badminton star Saina Nehwal for the Padma Bhushan on Saturday.
She clinched three individual titles and a couple of bronze medals at prestigious team events this season but far from satiated, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal feels she could have garnered more trophies had it not been for some missed opportunities.
19 per cent of all travel in India (by bus, train or air) was pilgrimage or religious travel (possibly the single largest after business and family-related travel), discovers Ambi Parameswaran.
The quarter-finals bug bit Saina Nehwal yet again at the badminton World Championships.
India's ace shullter Saina Nehwal put up a strong fight but went down 13-21, 21-13, 6-21 to World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying in Denmark Open final on Sunday.
Saina Nehwal breezed into the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open, scoring a 21-15, 21-17 victory over Japan's world No. 2-ramked Akane Yamaguchi on Thursday.
Making a comeback after a three-month injury lay-off, Saina Nehwal struggled to make an impression as she went down to Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in the first round of the China Open Super Series.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, who regained the number one spot in international rankings, said it was a big achievement for her.
Indian shuttlers had a mixed day in the opening round of the China Open with Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu easing into Round II, while Kidambi Srikanth and Ajay Jayaram making early exits.
The badminton player walked for footwear designer Misfit Panda.
Indian challenge ended at the $275,000 French Open Super Series badminton tournament after top seed Saina Nehwal suffered a straight game defeat to Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon in the quarter-finals in Paris.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
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.
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.
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.
Saina Nehwal staged a scintillating comeback to beat reigning world champion Carolina Marin and retain the women's singles title at the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament.
Sindhu, Saina advance to 2nd round; Reddy-Ponnappa out
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.
Indian badminton star and Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal was Thursday ruled out along withParupalli Kashyap from the 12th South Asian Games due to injury concerns, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) informed the local organisers in Shillong. "We've received a communication from BAI stating that the entire badminton squad except for Saina and Kashyap is arriving on Friday afternoon," SAG (Shillong) joint CEO FR Kharkongor told PTI. Saina and Kashyap are two of the top badminton athletes for the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio. Jwala Gutta has been confirmed as the captain of the Indian team by BAI President Akhilesh Das Gupta.
India's No 1 shuttler Saina Nehwal has been seeded fifth and compatriot P V Sindhu ninth in the women's singles at the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In the men's draw, Kidambi Srikanth, who is ranked world No 11, is seeded ninth.
Virat Kohli has joined the growing list of celebrities, political leaders and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, to tweet on unity and farmers
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu cleared first round hurdles in the women's singles with contrasting victories at the Denmark Open Super Series Badminton Premier, in Odense, on Wednesday. In the men's singles, Parupalli Kashyap cruised into the second round, beating Rajiv Ouseph of England 21-15, 21-18.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal advanced to the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Super Series Premier tournament with a comfortable straight-game win over local favourite Fitriani Fitriani in the women's singles event in Jakarta on Thursday.
Three-time champion Saina Nehwal staved off a challenge from a lower-ranked Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei to make a positive start to her women's singles campaign at the $900,000 Indonesia Super Series Premier badminton tournament in Jakarta on Tuesday.
'I didn't really like the way media put it that I have demanded the award. Who am I to demand for the award? I am nobody. I just wanted to know why my name was not considered'
Defending champion Saina Nehwal sailed into the semi-finals of the US $700,000 China Open Super Series Premier after a straight games' victory over Japan's Nozomi Okuhara, at the Haixia Olympic Sports Centre, in Fuzhou, on Friday.
Saina Nehwal crashed out of the All England Championship after her gallant fight against World No. 3 Korean Sung Ji Hyun ended with a narrow 20-22, 20-22 loss in the women's singles quarter-finals of the Super Series Premier event in Birmingham.
Ajay Jayaram, who skipped the ongoing Korea Open, slipped a place to be at 17th.
Shuttlers in the singles competition have to be inside top-16 of world rankings to qualify for the Olympics. The cut-off for doubles is also top-16.
Early exits at Japan Open and Denmark Open proved costly for ace India shuttler Saina Nehwal as she lost her World No.1 crown to All England and World champion Carolina Marin of Spain.
Sameer Verma stayed on course for his title defence while three-time former champion Saina Nehwal too reached the semifinals with an easy win
Indian shuttlers had a bad day at the French Super Series, as Saina Nehwal and three others lost in the second round, in Paris, on Thursday.
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu entered the second round, but it was a disappointing day for India's men as two of them made an early exit from the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton, in Shah Alam, on Wednesday.
14-year-old squash sensation Anahat Singh, among the youngest to represent India at the upcoming 2022 Commonwealth Games, hopes to bump into her role model P V Sindhu over the course of her stay in Birmingham.
India's foreign coach for badminton Agus Dwi Santoso says he will not be able to implement his plans for the Tokyo Olympics with only four shuttlers at his disposal, and wants the Sports Authority of India to allow more players in the national camp.
