Top shuttler B Sai Praneeth and doubles player Dhruv Rawat have already pulled out after testing positive in the pre-departure testing.
It has emerged now that Prannoy's name was recommended by Gopichand on June 3 in his capacity as a Khel Ratna Award recipient.
Srikanth needed 35 minutes to get the better of local hope Vittinghus 21-16, 21-10 in the opening round of the US$7,75,000 tournament.
Besides, the BAI also recommended renowned National Institute of Sports (NIS)-certified coaches -- S Murlidharan and Bhaskar Babu -- for the Dronacharya Award.
Saina lost 9-21, 12-21 in the women's singles clash that lasted just 24 minutes
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
It was a mixed day for Indian shuttlers at the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, as R M V Gurusaidutt, K Srikanth and c won their respective first round matches while others crashed out of the men's singles, in Kuala Lumpur, on Tuesday.
Srikanth fought hard for 55 minutes against second seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei
Saina lost 15-21, 21-23 in the women's singles match that lasted 37 minutes to crash out
Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram disposed off Netherland's Mark Caljouw in straight games to advance to the pre-quarterfinals but it was curtains for Sameer Verma and Rituparna Das at the World Championship in Glasgow.
The 28-year-old from Kerala had spent two weeks stressing over his physical and mental health after contracting COVID-19 last November.
Rising player Lakshya Sen went down to Denmark's Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus
Sindhu, who is currently competing at the French Open in Paris, jumped one rung to stay one spot behind Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying, who continues to dominate the rankings.
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Friday recommended Kidambi Srikanth for the Khel Ratna award after the top Indian shuttler apologised for pulling out of a tournament midway and show-caused his teammate H S Prannoy for slamming the federation after not being nominated for the Arjuna honour.
Rio Olympics silver medallist P V Sindhu will look to shrug off the disappointment of last week's second round exit at Denmark Open and eye her maiden Super Series women's singles title when she competes at the French Open this week. The sixth seeded Indian, who had lost to Japan's Sayaka Sato in second round at Odense, will open her campaign against Hong Kong's Yip Pui Yin at Stade Pierre de Coubertin.
Siblings Sourabh and Sameer Verma hogged the limelight at the Syed Modi Memorial India Open Grand Prix Gold by reaching the quarter-finals of the prestigious badminton tournament with contrasting victories in the pre-quarterfinals, in Lucknow, on Thursday.
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
US Open champion Prannoy, who had reached a career-best World No 11 ranking last week, improved a place further to grab the 10th spot. He has been rewarded for his consistent performance this season where he reached the semi-finals at the Indonesia Open and French Open.
India's men shuttlers had a great day in office with reigning Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap winning the Austrian Open Championship in Vienna while young Sameer Verma made it to the summit clash of the Swiss Open.
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.
Fourth seeded Sindhu took 39 minutes to get the better of World No 22 Mia 21-13, 21-19, her second straight win over the Dane.
Sameer Verma stunned World No. 3 Jorgensen to enter the final, while Rio Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu brushed aside local shuttler Cheung Ngan Yi's challenge to make the title round, her second final seven days.
Riding on her title-triumph at the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold, India's P V Sindhu, on Thursday, jumped one place to be just outside the top 10 in the latest BWF ranking.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal moved one place up to occupy the fifth spot while P V Sindhu remained unchanged at 10th in the latest Badminton World Federation Rankings issued on Thursday. Saina, who clinched her second Australian Open title earlier this month, exchanged places with Japan's Nozomi Okuhara, who now occupies the sixth spot in the women's singles list headed by Spain's Carolina Marin.
Prannoy took to Twitter to express his displeasure.
Now all eyes are on the two Super 1000 events -- Yonex Thailand Open (January 12-17) and Toyota Thailand Open (January 19-24) as the world's best return to action following a prolonged break.
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.
World champion Viktor Axelsen staved off a strong challenge from World No 5 Korean Son Wan Ho as Bengaluru Blasters blanked Mumbai Rockets 6-(-1) in the Premier Badminton League (PBL) in Lucknow on Monday.
Indian contingent has an opportunity to go deep in the draw and recapture the trophy which has been won by just two Indians so far -- the legendary Prakash Padukone (1980) and P Gopichand (2001).
Fifth seed Sindhu will now look to avenge her All England loss against Korea's Sung Ji Hyun, whom she faces next, while Srikanth will meet Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab on Thursday.
P V Sindhu will be eager to return to the podium as former winner Saina Nehwal looks to regain her touch
Erratic Saina stunned by Chinese youngster
India's leading shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the second round of the French Open with straight-game wins, but it was curtains for Sameer Verma at the US $750,000 BWF event, in Paris, on Wednesday.
The Indian men's doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reclaimed its position in the top 10 of the latest BWF rankings.
Newly-crowned China Open champion P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal entered the quarterfinals of the women's singles competition at the Hong Kong Open Super Series tournament on a fruitful day for Indian shuttlers in Kowloon. Sindhu, who bagged her maiden Super Series Premier title last week at the China Open just months after winning the silver at Rio Olympics, trounced Chinese Taipei's Hsu Ya Ching 21-10 21-14, while Saina dished out a gruelling performance against Japan's Sayaka Sato to edge prevail 21-18 9-21 21-16.
Indian pair toiled hard for one hour and 15 minutes to beat their world No 6 Malaysian opponents 18-21, 24-22, 22-20
Despite clinching the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold title last week, Indian shuttler H S Prannoy slipped three places to World No 27 in the latest BWF rankings released on Thursday.
India's decision to field World No 13 Sameer instead of Kidambi Srikanth in men's singles backfired as the former couldn't get going against Lee Zii Jia, losing 13-21, 15-21 in 48 minutes to allow Malaysia level the scores 1-1 after getting the lead with a win the mixed doubles.
Sourabh Verma and Ajay Jayram also entered the second round
Experienced drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh returned to India's men's hockey team, which also features debutant Jaskaran Singh, for the tour of Australia, starting May 10.
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