Venkata Pusarla Sindhu or PV Sindhu as she is popularly known has to contend not only with the hopes of her nation but the pressure of impressing her most famous fan in the Commonwealth Games badminton competition.
With Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu in good form, India will surely win at least three medals from badminton in the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, says Jwala Gutta, the country's No 1 doubles player.
Modi also hailed the world's largest vaccination programme being carried out in India against COVID-19
Sindhu had resumed training last month under the supervision of Korean coach Park Tae-Sang after the Sports Authority of India
Rankireddy and Shetty, who created history on Sunday by becoming the first Indian men's doubles pair to win a BWF Super 500 tournament, are placed ninth in the men's doubles rankings issued on Tuesday.
Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal entered the second round of women's singles with a comfortable victory but P V Sindhu suffered an upset defeat in the opening round to crash out of the US $750,000 Australian Open Super Series badminton tournament in Sydney on Wednesday. In men's singles, India's Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma made the second round with contrasting victories, but it was curtains for qualifier R M V Gurusaidutt as he failed to cross the first round hurdle. Saina, who had won the Australian Open title in 2014, hardly broke a sweat in her opening round game as she outplayed Joy Lai of Australia with a dominating 21-10 21-14 win in just 29 minutes. The seventh seeded Indian will clash with Malaysia's Jin Wei Goh in the second round. However, World No. 10 Sindhu was stunned by South Korea's Kim Hyo Min, ranked 40th in the world, 15-21 19-21 after a 55-minute battle.
Pullela Gopichand hoped that one of the three prodigal talents he has shaped will end the 18-year-old title drought at the event this year.
When brands look at cricket, India's male cricketers are an obvious choice.
Parupalli Kashyap stands just one victory away from winning a historic gold after notching up an energy-sapping three-game victory over England's Rajiv Ouseph but P V Sindhu suffered a heart-breaking loss in the women's semi-final at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, on Saturday.
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.
It was a mixed night for the Indian badminton team at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as India's big hope P V Sindhu suffered a three-game loss against Michelle Li in the women's singles but the Indian team still managed to advance to the semi-finals of the mixed team championship after defeating Canada 3-1.
Sania Mirza was recommended for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on Tuesday. She is only the second tennis player ever to be named for the country's highest sporting honour.
India's campaign at the China Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament ended as P V Sindhu and H S Prannoy crashed out of the women's and men's singles after straight-game defeats in their respective quarter-finals, in Changzhou, on Friday.
India's top shuttler, Parupalli Kashyap climbed a notch to the 13th position in the men's singles table in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa notched up an upset win over the World No 8 and second-seeded Indonesian pair of Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in the opening round.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal reached the women's singles semi-finals with a comfortable straight-game win, but compatriot P V Sindhu failed to cross the quarterfinal hurdle in the $750,000 Star Australian Super Series, in Sydney on Friday.
Star Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal sailed into the second round of the Singapore Open with straight-game wins over their respective rivals in the women's singles event on Wednesday.
'They want us to win in every match, like in cricket.' 'It's so tough to play every tournament and win.'
This was Sindhu's second consecutive loss to Tzu Ying. Saina was no match for Carolina Marin, who took exactly half-an-hour to dispose of the Indian's challenge, beating her 8-21, 7-21.
Star shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth notched straight-game victories to progress to the quarter-finals, but it was curtains for Saina Nehwal in the US $700,000 Malaysia Open World Tour Super 750 tournament, at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil, a suburb in Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday.
Virat Kohli has emerged as the most valued celebrity in India for the fifth year in a row, topping the Duff & Phelps Celebrity Brand Valuation Report 2021 despite seeing a dip in his brand value to $185.7 million last year from a high of $237.7 million in 2020. The annual report explained that brand Kohli faced a decline following the cricketer's resignation from the ODI (One Day International) and T20 captaincy and "associated exchanges" with the Board of Control for Cricket in India and recent on-field outcomes. "However, we believe that with the reduced workload after stepping down from captaincy, Kohli can focus now on what he is known for - his batting - and continue his journey on becoming the world's best batsmen," it added.
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu met P V Sindhu, who recently became the first Indian shuttler to win gold at the World Championships, at his residence, in Hyderabad, on Saturday.
India's leading badminton player Saina Nehwal has dropped four places to be No 9 in the latest world rankings while P V Sindhu remains No 10 despite winning a silver medal in the Rio Olympics.
Rio Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu jumped two places to achieve her career-best ranking of seven, while Saina Nehwal was also back in the top 10, in the latest BWF World Ranking.
Leading the congratulatory messages from the film industry for the ace shuttler were Aamir Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Misfiring Rafael Nadal crashed out of the Barcelona Open on Friday at the hands of fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro who avenged last year's final defeat by winning their quarter-final 2-6, 7-6 (7-5,) 6-4.
Newly-crowned India Open Super Series champion PV Sindhu feels that winning the hard-fought first game against Carolina Marin proved to be crucial in the final outcome of the match.
Thailand Open champion Kidambi Srikanth came up with a solid display to shock world number 10 Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam in a men's singles match to enter the quarter-finals of the US $300,000 Singapore Super Series.
Presenting pics from Akash Ambani and Shloka Mehta's grand wedding reception hosted in Mumbai.
Kidambi Srikanth created history as he became the first Indian man to enter the World Badminton Championships final after edging compatriot Lakshya Sen in a thrilling semi-final, in Huelva, Spain on Saturday. Srikanth rallied after losing
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu are on a collision course at next week's World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, as they have been placed in the same half after the world governing body re-conducted the women's singles draw.
India's rising badminton star P V Sindhu continued to take giant strides towards asserting herself as one of the best of Indian badminton.
India's up-and-coming shuttler P V Sindhu created history by becoming first Indian women's singles player to be assured a World Championship medal as she entered the semi-finals.
Tokyo should remain the benchmark and source of inspiration till at least Paris 2024. In the shorter run, India's preparations for the Asian and Commonwealth Games next year must begin based on lessons learnt now, asserts Raj Kishore Mishra, former joint secretary at the sports ministry.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal's confidence is back after winning the India Grand Prix Gold.
'It is the first time that India badminton player has won two Olympic medals in badminton, so it is a great achievement not only for Sindhu but also a big moment for my teaching life.'
Rejuvenated after a month-long break from a hectic BWF schedule, Sindhu and Srikanth prevailed over Japanese shuttlers Aya Ohori and Kenta Nishimoto in women's and men's singles respectively.
P V Sindhu, on Tuesday, suffered an injury scare but there is no immediate threat to her participation in the Commonwealth Games starting next month.
The opening ceremony will be held on April 4.
The opening ceremony has been created by British screenwriter Steven Knight, who had produced the famous crime drama 'Peaky Blinders'.
