Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty maintained their unbeaten run to storm into the knock-out stage of the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals, beating arch-rivals Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in their final Group B match, in Hangzhou, on Friday.
Our current players just need to develop a bit more physically: Saina Nehwal
Shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa believes that the Indian contingent has a strong shot at changing the colour of the medal in the upcoming Paris Olympics.
The Indians, who were also Asian champions, defeated the current world champions in 43 minutes.
The top seeded Indian duo, who reached the semi-finals of the season-opening Malaysia Open super 1000, was scheduled to face Chinese Taipei's Su Ching Heng and Ye Hong Wei in the opening round.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who is returning from an ankle injury, begins her campaign against former World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the first round of Malaysia Open.
Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth will lock horns with Japan's Koki Watanabe, while Sourabh Verma faces France's Toma Junior Popov.
Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth will meet compatriot HS Prannoy in his opening match, while former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap will square off against a qualifier.
If Sindhu and Saina win their respective second round matches, they will face each other in the quarter-finals.
The World No 11 Srikanth will take on China's Lu Guang Zu in the next round.
Her reluctance to appear for BAI trials could well end her chances of representing the flag
Srikanth fought better in the second, but Yew was too good on the day, to emerge triumphant.
The top Indian players, including Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Srikanth have failed to lift the prestigious trophy
Defending champion PV Sindhu suffered a straight-game defeat to Tai Tzu Ying while Srikanth assured himself of a medal.
Badminton stars Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap continued their wedding celebrations with a post-wedding cocktail party in Hyderabad on Sunday.
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.
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.
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.
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.
India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal tied the knot with fellow badminton player and long time partner Parupalli Kashyap in Hyderabad on Friday.
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.
Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth have sealed their spots at the prestigious BWF World Superseries Finals for the second successive time.
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.
London Olympics bronze medalist Saina Nehwal will no doubt be the cynosure of all eyes but the India Open Super Series starting in New Delhi on Tuesday, will hold more significance for the country's other shuttlers, who would look to prove their mettle at the highest level.
Kidambi Srikanth continued his fine form to enter the men's singles semi-finals but Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu bowed out of the Australian Open Super Series badminton tournament in Sydney, on Friday.
Defending champion Kidambi Srikanth beat compatriot Sameer Verma 22-20, 19-21, 23-21 in an absorbing men's singles quarter-final to enter the semi-finals of the Denmark Open, in Odense, on Friday night. The Indian ace will meet second seeded Japanese and world No 1 Kento Momota, who got the better of Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab 21-13, 21-9 in another quarter-final.
Pullela Gopichand called P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal -- his two most successful pupils -- as 'precious diamonds'.
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.
Saina, who was looking good at the start of the season, was diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis with mild pancreatitis which affected her performance at the All England Championship.
It was Saina Nehwal's 13th straight defeat against the World No 1 Taiwanese, whom she has not beaten since 2015.
Top seeds Saina Nehwal and Chetan Anand cruised to the pre-quarterfinals even as three other top Indian shuttlers bite the dust at the India Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Chennai on Wednesday.
Young men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty too entered the quarter-finals after getting past Chinese Taipei's Liao Min Chun and Su Ching Heng 21-17, 21-16 in the second round.
PV Sindhu will open her campaign against South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun, while Saina Nehwal takes on Scotland's Kristy Gilmour in the first round.
The 25-year-old Arvind Bhat defeated local favourite Yan Kit Chan in straight sets 21-14, 21-19, while Saina Nehwal had to fight a tough battle to overcome Youn Joo Bae of Korea 21-15, 12-21, 21-13, in the second round.
Olympic medallists Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu will be the cynosure of all eyes when the seventh India Super Series badminton tournament gets underway with the qualifiers in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their impressive run, progressing to the semi-finals with another stunning victory, but it was curtains for Saina Nehwal at the US $700,000 French Open, in Paris, on Friday.
Indian campaign in the Denmark Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament ended with Parupalli Kashyap suffering a straight-game defeat at the hands of second seed Chen Long of China in the men's singles semi-finals in Odense (Denmark).
India's challenge in the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Super Series came to an end on Friday after both Arvind Bhat and Saina Nehwal bowed out in the quarter-finals.
Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal cruised into the singles second round but Shruti Kurian and Jwala Ghutta bowed out of women's doubles at the World Badminton Championships.
The Indian won 21-7 21-7 in the summit clash that lasted just 38 minutes.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances