Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal turned in a superb display to stun world No 3 Xin Wang in the last Group B match of the BWF Super Series Finals in Liuzhou, China, on Friday. The world No 4, who had already qualified for the semi-finals, won 21-17, 22-20 in 39 minutes.
Saina Nehwal lit up another gloomy day for India at the Olympics by storming into the women's singles semi-finals, even as shooting medal hope Ronjan Sodhi fell by the wayside on Thursday. The ace shuttler exhibited excellent court-craft and unflinching attitude to defeat senior opponent and two-time All England champion Tine Baun of Denmark 21-15, 22-20 in a pulsating quarter-final clash that lasted 37 minutes.
Indian athletes will be in action in various disciplines at the 2012 Olympics on Thursday. Check out their time schedule.
P V Sindhu-spearheaded Awadhe Warriors inched a step closer to the semifinal spot after they defeated Mumbai Masters 3-2 in the inaugural Indian Badminton League in Bangalore.
Star shuttler Saina Nehwal lit up another gloomy day for India at the Olympic Games by storming her way into the women's singles semi-finals while shooting medal hope Ronjan Sodhi fell by the wayside on Thursday.
Rediff.com takes a look at a sportspersons whose careers had a fairy-tale finish.
Top badminton stars, including two-time All England champion Tine Baun of Denmark and world No.4 Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro will participate in the inaugural edition of the US$ 1 million Indian Badminton League.
One of India's brightest medal prospects at the Olympics, in-form badminton star Saina Nehwal will start her campaign on Sunday when she takes on unheralded Swiss Sabrina Jaquet in her opening group match at the Wembley Arena in London.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal survived a scare from lower-ranked Japanese Nozomi Okuhara to advance to the semi-finals of the women's singles in the Malaysian Super Series, in Kuala Lumpur, on Friday. The top seeded Indian lost the second game 14-21, after winning the first 21-11, but with Nozomi retiring early in the third, she cemented a place into the last four.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal sailed into the second round of Malaysia Open after a straight games victory over Singapore's Gu Juan in the women's singles, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday. However, India's rising star PV Sindhu went down fighting to higher-ranked Tine Baun of Denmark in the first round.
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.
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.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Hong Kong Super Series badminton tournament after a straight-game quarter-final defeat to lower-ranked Tine Baun of Denmark, while giant-killer RMV Gurusaidutt also made an exit, on Friday.
Two-time All England champion Tine Baun is confident that she and Indian ace Saina Nehwal are good enough to topple the formidable Chinese players at the London Olympics and win medals.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal advanced to the quarter-finals of the Indonesian Open Super Series after registering a straight-game victory over Petya Nedelcheva in the second round in Jakarta on Thursday. The fourth seeded Indian needed just 31 minutes to dispose off Petya, winning 21-18, 21-9.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal entered her first semi-final of the new season, scoring a hard-fought victory over Tine Baun of Denmark at the Malaysian Super Series in Kuala Lumpur, on Friday. The world No 4 Indian had to toil before prevailing over two-time All England champion Tine 21-13, 21-23, 21-13 in a women singles quarter-final that lasted a little less than an hour.
Indian ace Saina Nehwal hardly broke sweat in a straight games victory over Chinese Taipei's Shao Chieh Cheng, which gave her a berth in the women's singles quarter-finals of the Malaysian Super Series badminton, in Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday. The fourth seed rode on her smashes and better net play to outwit Cheng 21-19, 21-8 in 31 minutes.
After a quarter-final finish at Korea last week, India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal will now set her sights on the Malaysia Super Series, which begins with the qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal created history on Saturday by becoming the first Indian singles player to reach the summit clash of the BWF Super Series Finals after defeating Tine Baun of Denmark during the semi-finals in Liuzhou in China.
Saina Nehwal moved a step closer to defending her Indonesian Open Super Series title, reaching the semi-finals with a straight games' victory over Denmark's eighth seed Tine Baun, in Jakarta, on Friday. The fourth seed won 21-19, 21-19 in 37 minutes.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal, who had a disappointing Asian Games, rose a rung to reclaim a career-high second spot after 13 weeks in the latest Badminton World Federation rankings.
Spearheaded by Malaysian world No 1 Lee Chong Wei, Mumbai Masters took a winning 3-1 lead over Delhi Smashers in the Indian Badminton League match at the NSCI courts, in Mumbai, on Tuesday night.
Pune Pistons secured a close 3-2 victory after icon player Ashwini Ponnappa and Fischer Nielsen Joachim won the deciding mixed doubles match.
Awadhe Warriors brother-sister pair of Markis Kido and Pia Bernadeth held their nerves in a close encounter to win the crucial fifth match and the tie 3-2 against Mumbai Masters in the second semi-final to set up the summit clash with Hyderabad Hotshots in the Indian Badminton League on Thursday.
Saina Nehwal eschews the 'natural talent' tag thrust upon her by Indian media and says only hard graft and good coaching have given her the chance to turn the Olympic badminton bronze she won four years ago in London into gold at the Rio Games.
Far from mourning the end of her brief reign as the world number one, shuttler Saina Nehwal is happy that she at least made it to where no other non-Chinese could reach in the last four years.
Home-grown icons Saina Nehwal and P Kashyap, along with some international stars such as Lee Chong Wei, would be the top draws at the Indian Badminton League's players' auction to be held in New Delhi on Monday.
Far from mourning the end of her brief reign as the World No 1, shuttler Saina Nehwal is happy.
For all her achievements, says Bikash Mohapatra, Saina is yet to win either the Worlds, Olympics or All England, badminton's flagship events.
Saina Nehwal's wish to be in her home team came true as Hyderabad Hotshots bought the Indian star for USD 120,000 but world number one Lee Chong Wei proved to be the costliest, going to Mumbai Masters for USD 135,000 in the inaugural Indian Badminton League's players auction on Monday.