India's Verma brothers -- Sourabh and Sameer -- advanced to the second round of the men's singles competition of the $120,000 Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Saarbrucken, Germany.
The 25-year-old Indian, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from injuries, beat Mithun 21-9, 21-15 in just 31 minutes to set up a title clash with Japan's Koki Watanabe on Sunday.
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.
Sourabh Verma and Ajay Jayram also entered the second round
P V Sindhu will be eager to return to the podium as former winner Saina Nehwal looks to regain her touch
The Hyderabad Open badminton tournament, scheduled to be held from August 11 to 16, was on Thursday cancelled by the world body BWF in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The event was part of the BWF's revised calendar to restart the sport after the pandemic-forced cancellations since March.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Top Indian shuttlers, including K Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap in men's singles and P V Sindhu in women's singles, advanced to the second round after easy victories on the first day of the main draw in the Syed Modi International Badminton tournament, in Lucknow, on Wednesday.
Returning to action after nearly two months, Saina, who made last-minute withdrawals from Indonesia Open and last week's Japan Open because of injuries, got past Chaiwan 21-17, 21-19 in her opening round contest.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
PV Sindhu finally fetched India its first ever World Championships gold in the sport but spent rest of the year struggling for form.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
While Saina made short work of USA's Beiwan Zhang, second seed Sindhu had to dig deep to get the better of Japanese Sayaka Sato.
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.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday.
Still recovering from a foot injury and a recurring fever, defending champion Saina Nehwal has pulled out of the women's singles competition at the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Lucknow.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Saina Nehwal guided the Indian women's team to a dominating 5-0 win over Germany to stay on course for a knockout berth in Uber Cup, but the men's team suffered a narrow 2-3 defeat against Hong Kong, staring at an early exit in Thomas Cup badminton tournament in Kunshan, China.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal entered the pre-quarterfinals but it turned out to be a disastrous day for the men with all of them, including reigning champion K Srikanth, failing to cross the opening hurdle at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super Series badminton.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist R M V Gurusaidutt is desperate to avenge India's Thomas Cup loss to Korea when they open their campaign against the hosts in badminton team event in the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon, Korea.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday.
After losing seven successive finals, PV Sindhu finally redeemed herself with the gold medal at the World Tour Finals.
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.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
The revamped Premier Badminton League (PBL), commencing here tomorrow with hosts Mumbai Rockets taking on the Saina Nehwal-spearheaded Awadhe Warriors, is to experiment with a new concept - Trump match - that's expected to keep the interest till the end of a tie.
Rising Indian shuttler P V Sindhu entered the second round easily but it was Anand Pawar and K Srikanth who created a flutter at the Japan Open as they notched up stunning victories over their higher-ranked opponents in the men's singles competition in Tokyo.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
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