Saina Nehwal's hopes of winning her maiden 'World Super Series Finals title this year went up in smoke as she lost her semi-final clash against top seed and current Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China in a three-game encounter.
Saina Nehwal looks set to cap a remarkable year on a high. The ace Indian shuttler entered the semi-finals of the BWF World Super Series Finals with a fine straight-game win over Juliane Schenk of Germany,in Shenzhen, China, on Friday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal is virtually out of the semifinals race of the BWF World Super Series Finals after losing her second consecutive women's singles Group B match in the $ 500,000 event in Shenzhen, China on Thursday.
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.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Hong Kong Super Series after losing to former world No 1 Wang Lin of China in the second round on Thursday. The third-seeded Indian failed to match Wang, currently ranked No 61, with her smashes and went down 19-21, 15-21 in 37 minutes.
Saina Nehwal has become a strong medal prospect at the upcoming London Olympics after her dominating performanmce over the formidable Chinese players at the Indonesian Open, asserts nine-time national badminton champion and two-time Olympian Aparna Popat.
On a high after clinching the Thailand Open title last week, Indian ace Saina Nehwal started her campaign at the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier with a thrilling three-game victory over Japan's Sayaka Sato in the women's singles competition in Jakarta.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal remained on course for her second title of the season as she reached the semi-finals of the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold with a straight-games victory over Sapsiree Taerattanachai in Bangkok on Friday.
Saina Nehwal's struggle for form summed up a disappointing year for Indian Badminton, the rare high point of which was Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa's World Championships bronze medal.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal stamped her authority to storm into the final of the French Super Series outclassing German Juliane Schenk in straight sets in the women's badminton singles in Paris.
With the hope that 2017 will be a prosperous and peaceful year, Indian sports personalities took to Twitter to wish their fans a Happy New Year.
Fresh from her maiden Denmark Open title triumph, India ace Saina Nehwal started her French Open Super Series campaign in style, registering a hard-fought win over China's Li Han in women's singles event in Paris.
Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal set up a semifinal clash against old nemesis and World No. 1 Yihan Wang of China after easing past local hope Tine Baun in straight games at the Denmark Open badminton tournament in Odense, Denmark.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal continued her rampaging comeback and notched up a straight games victory over Minatsu Mitani of Japan to advance to the quarter-finals of the Denmark Super Series.
Returning to the court after a two month break, Saina Nehwal made a rampaging start to her campaign at the Denmark Open, reaching the second round with a comfortable straight-game victory over Yeon Ju Bae of Korea in Odense.
Saina Nehwal says Tai Tzu-Ying's repertoire of shots and the ability to not restrict her game to a set pattern makes the World No 1 from Chinese Taipei a very difficult player to beat at the moment.
The Indian Olympic Association and the federations might be against it but the National Sports Bill has got a collective thumbs up from India's top athletes, who feel the draft has the potential to drastically change the country's sports scene.
With just two tournaments left for Olympic qualification, Indian contenders for the London Games are looking to rake up ranking points at the Asian Badminton Championships, beginning in Qingdao, China, on Tuesday.
The Lok Sabha on Monday felicitated badminton star Saina Nehwal and tennis player Sania Mirza.
With the Swiss Open title in her bag, Saina Nehwal feels she is peaking at the right time for the London Olympics.
Rising Indian shuttler P V Sindhu continued her giant-killing run in the Li Ning China Masters Super Series, shocking London Olympics gold medallist Li Xuerui of China, to storm into the women's singles semi-finals on Friday.
India has a large contingent of 619 athletes for the Commonwealth Games, comprising 379 male athletes and 240 female athletes.
Parupalli Kashyap, who became the first Indian shuttler to reach the quarter-finals of the Olympics Games, has said he draws inspiration from London Games bronze medallist Saina Nehwal. Kashyap, who received the Arjuna Award in a glittering ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on Wednesday, also said he is aiming to break into the top-15 of world badminton ranking by the end of this year.
Her eyes trained on the Chinese, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal on Tuesday revealed that long before winning the recently-held Swiss Open, she had to endure a difficult phase which, at times, even made her weep.
Basking in the glory of a bronze medal at the London Olympics, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal says it was very tough for her to win the medal in a sport dominated by the Chinese.
Srikanth, now ranked five, was placed seventh before the Malaysia Open, where he lost his last-four clash to the reigning Asian champion Kento Momota.
India ace shuttler Saina Nehwal started her title defense on a positive note, thrashing Japan's Sayaka Sato in straight-games in the first round of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold at Basel, Switzerland.
Saina Nehwal received a brand new BMW car for winning a bronze medal at the London Olympics from none other than batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, who said that the world is yet to see the best of the star shuttler.
Lack of adequate time to recover after a late night match affected Saina Nehwal's performance in the semi-finals, feels her coach Vimal Kumar, who called for perfect scheduling of matches in big ticket events such as World Championship and Olympics.
Her bronze medal in the London Olympics has sent India into a state of frenzy, but her shocking quarterfinal defeat in her maiden appearance at the mega event in Beijing four years ago, still rankles shuttle queen Saina Nehwal.
Saina Nehwal, who won the tournament last year before going through a lean patch, lost 19-21, 13-21, 5-21 to Sayaka Takahashi in 50 minutes.
Describing Saina Nehwal as a 'phenomenal', her coach Pullela Gopichand today said if Saina had not won the Olympic medal, his life would have been incomplete.
Saina Nehwal's bronze medal win at the Olympics is the happiest moment of her career. For her coach Pullela Gopichand, however, it means the world.
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.
Pusarla V Sindhu proved too good for Canada's Michelle Li in the women's singles badminton final to win her maiden Commonwealth Games gold medal, in Birmingham, on Monday.
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal cruised into the knock-out stage of the women's singles competition at the London Olympics after notching a comfortable victory over Belgium's Lianne Tan in a group stage match on Monday. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa stunned world No 10 Yu Chin Chien and Wen Hsing Cheng of Chinese Taipei 25-23, 16-21, 21-18.
Rediff.com gives you a pictorial rewind of all the excitement that unfolded in the sporting world in the week gone by...
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal came from behind to notch a hard-fought victory over Juan Gu of Singapore in a first round match at the Malaysian Open Super Series, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday. The fourth seed won 19-21, 21-14, 21-15, in 56 minutes.
Ashwini Ponnappa, who will partner Jwala Gutta in the women's doubles at the Olympics, is confident of peaking in time and doing well at the mega event.
