Page 10 - Badminton

Malaysian Masters champ Prannoy lead India's charge at Indonesia Super 1000

In-form HS Prannoy will be in the spotlight as India's top shuttlers gear up for some tough opening round matches at the Indonesia Open, a BWF Super 1000 tournament, beginning here on Tuesday. Prannoy, who claimed the Malaysia Masters Super 300 title last month, looks promising to go deep into the tournament, where the creme-de-la-creme of world badminton is set to compete this week. The world number 8 Indian will be up against Kenta Nishimoto of Japan and a first round win is likely to pit him against China's Shi Yuqi in the second round. Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and 2021 world championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth will also look for impressive starts to their campaign, though they haven't been in the best of form this season. Sindhu made first round exits from the last two events, while Srikanth had a couple of quarterfinal finishes at Malaysia and Spain and they will have their task cut out against Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung and China's Lu Guang Zu

India's campaign ends in Singapore Open badminton after Kidambi's defeat

India's campaign ended at the Singapore Masters badminton tournament after Kidambi Srikanth lost in straight games to Chia Hao Lee of Chinese Taipei in the men's singles second round here on Thursday. Srikanth lost 15-21 19-21 in just 37 minutes against Lee in their first meeting on the professional circuit. The 2021 World Championships silver medallist Srikanth beat Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen 21-15 21-19 in the opening round. Chia Hao Lee, on the other hand, beat Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in his opening match after being promoted to the main draw from the reserve. Earlier, upcoming Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat's dream run ended with a second round loss to third seed Kodai Naraoka. The unseeded Rajawat, who had stunned world No. 15 Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan in the opening round, lost to Naraoka 17-21 16-21 in straight games. Having ousted HS Prannoy in the first round, the world No. 4 Naraoka of Japan maintained his lead as the world No. 37 Indian played catch-up througho

Thailand Open 2023: Lakshya Sen goes down against world No. 5 Vitidsarn

India's challenge at the Thailand Open 2023 badminton tournament came to an end on Saturday after Lakshya Sen went down fighting in the men's singles event, here

Team, player auction dates for Grand Prix Badminton League announced

The auction for the second season of Grand Prix Badminton League (GPBL) will be held on June 10 and will feature bids for 10 teams including from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. The league has unveiled its team and player auction plans. The event will see players from across 25 countries participating in it. Speaking about the upcoming season, Prashanth Reddy, league commissioner said: "With the objective of expanding the league's reach, GPBL Season 2 will feature a total of 10 teams as against eight in the first season. With the overwhelming response from players and the addition of two new teams, we are confident of yet another successful season." The auction will feature bids for the Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kerala, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Lucknow and Odisha teams. "The league aims to provide a platform for both domestic and international talent to not only showcase their skills but give them an opportunity to earn substantial money to fund their training and

Sindhu, Prannoy advance to semifinals of Malaysia Masters, Srikanth out

Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy advanced to the women's and men's singles semifinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament with hard-fought wins over their respective opponents here on Friday. While double Olympic medallist Sindhu, seeded sixth in the tournament, beat lower ranked Yi Man Zhang of China 21-16, 13-21, 22-20, Prannoy earned a 25-23, 18-21, 21-13 win over Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in the quarterfinals. Sindhu faces seventh seed and world number nine Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in the semifinals on Saturday. Tunjung upset second seed Yi Zhi Wang of China in the quarterfinals 21-18, 22-20. Tunjung has been in fine form recently and Sindhu had lost to her in the Madrid Spain Masters final in straight games in April. The Indian will, however, go into the semifinals with a 7-1 head-to-head advantage over Tunjung. World number nine Prannoy faces qualifier Christian Adinata, ranked 57, of Indonesia, who beat Kidambi Srikanth 16-21, 21-16, 21-11

BAI starts trials for Asian Games Selection to be held in Hangzhou, China

BAI started trials for upcoming major world championships as the Asian games are set to begin on September 23 in Hangzhou, China

Satwik and Chirag break 58-yr record to become new Asia Badminton champions

Star doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty on Sunday broke a 58-year-old drought, becoming the first Indians after Dinesh Khanna to be crowned champions at the Asia badminton Championships here. The 2022 World Championships bronze medallists scripted a sensational comeback after an opening game reversal to edge past the Malaysian combination of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi 21-16, 17-21, 19-21 in a nail-biting final to accomplish a magnificent victory in the continental championship. Khanna is the only Indian to claim the gold medal, having achieved the feat when he beat Thailand's Sangob Rattanusorn in the men's singles final in 1965 at Lucknow. India's previous best performance in men's doubles at the Asia Championships was a bronze-medal finish by Dipu Ghosh and Raman Ghosh in 1971. Satwik and Chirag, who claimed the Swiss Open Super 300 title in Basel, showed tremendous grit as they never gave up after losing the first game and being 7-13 and 11-15 in the second

Sindhu, Prannoy make quarterfinals exits from Badminton Asia Championships

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu squandered a game lead to go down against second seed An Se Young of Korea in the women's singles quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia Championships here on Friday. Sindhu, seeded eighth, pocked the first game 21-18 but looked completely off colour in the next two games which she lost 5-21 9-21 to hand Young a place in the semifinals. The other Indian hope, eight seed HS Prannoy too bowed out in the men's singles quarterfinals after conceding his match midway against Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan. Prannoy was trailing 11-21 9-13 when he retired due to an injury. Earlier in the day, qualifiers Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy battled hard before losing a tough three-game mixed doubles contest against Dejan Ferdinansyah and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia. The Indian pair fought for one hour and five minutes before losing the quarterfinal by 18-21 21-19 15-21 margin.

Sports sponsorship: Cricket dominates but others are gaining, says report

Football, boxing, badminton, kho kho and kabaddi are finding sponsors too, finds GroupM report

Badminton Asia Mixed Championships: India beat UAE to qualify for knockouts

India beat UAE 5-0 as Lakshya Sen, Aakarshi Kashyap, and India's three doubles teams played too strong for hosts in the second tie of Group B at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in Dubai

I'm confident, positive: Sindhu ahead of Badminton Asia Mixed Team C'ship

Completely recovered from a stress fracture on the left foot that kept her away from the circuit for five months, a fit-again Indian shuttler PV Sindhu is confident and sounding positive ahead of the ongoing season. Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, said her injury has "completely healed" and is aiming to go full throttle this year. Sindhu was sidelined with injury after winning the Commonwealth Games women's singles gold in Birmingham in August and made a comeback at the year's first event -- Petronas Malaysia Open 2023 -- where she lost a three-gamer in the opening round to Carolina Marin of Spain. Sindhu made another first-round exit a week later at the India Open at home, but said she was "happy with my footwork, skills and strokes" on her return to competitive action in Kuala Lumpur. "I'm completely alright now. Physically and mentally I'm completely fine. Injuries happen but it's important to keep your body healthy and come back stronger every time. I am confident, positi

PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen among title contenders at India Open Super 750

The country's top shuttlers, including reigning champion Lakshya Sen and double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, will look to keep their date with destiny in India Open Super 750

Indian shuttlers confirm five medals at Badminton Asia Junior Championships

Indian shuttlers Unnati Hooda, Gnana Dattu, Anish Thoppani and two doubles pairs marched into the semifinals to assure the country of five medals at the Badminton Asia U-17 & U-15 Junior Championships 2022 in Nonthaburi, Thailand on Friday.

Down with throat infection, Lakshya Sen withdraws from Australian Open

Suffering from a throat infection, star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen has withdrawn from the upcoming Australian Open Super 300 badminton tournament. The 21-year-old from Almora picked up the infection just before the Hylo Open, where he lost in the opening round to Hong Kong's Ng Ka Long Angus in Saarbrucken, Germany. The Australian Open is scheduled to be held from November 15 to 20 in Sydney. "I had fever, throat pain and weakness after I reached Saarbrucken ahead of Hylo Open. I probably picked the infection while travelling from Paris," Sen, who returned to India on Saturday night, told PTI on Sunday. "I thought it is not that serious. I was training last Sunday and then on Monday, I felt it had aggravated. I consulted doctor online and took medicine. It is under control now. But given the situation, I have decided to pull out of Australian Open." The Commonwealth Games champion said the fact that he has no chance of qualifying for the World Tour Finals also played a role in hi

Pramod Bhagat, Manisha Ramadass bag gold at Para-Badminton Worlds

Paralympic champion Pramod Bhagat and promising Manisha Ramadass emerged champions as India finished with a total of 16 medals at the BWF Para Badminton World Championships here on Sunday. Taking the court first, Bhagat defended his men's singles SL3 title in style as he defeated compatriot Nitesh Kumar 21-19 21-19 in 53 minutes to clinch the gold medal. For Ramadass, it was a dream come true moment as she beat local star Mamiko Toyoda 21-15 21-15 in women's singles SU5 finals. Having started playing senior international only in March this year, it was definitely a milestone for the 17-year-old from Chennai, who stayed dominant throughout the match. "This has been the biggest moment of my life. I have waited for this moment and worked hard for the past few months for this. It feels awesome to be the world champion. I hope I can continue with such result and make my country proud in future events," said Ramadass. Bhagat now has 11 medals, including six gold, two silver and three br

French Open badminton: Srikanth beats Lakshya, Sameer Verma upsets Ginting

Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth beat Commonwealth Games champion and compatriot Lakshya Sen in the opening round of the French Open 2022 BWF Super 750 tournament men's singles event

Denmark Open: Lakshya Sen loses to Japan's Kodai Naraoka in quarterfinals

Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen suffered a straight game loss to Japan's Kodai Naraoka in the men's singles quarterfinal to bring down curtains on India's campaign at the Denmark Open Super 750 tournament here. Sen, a 2021 world championships bronze medallist, lost 17-21 12-21 to Naraoka, a bronze medallist at the 2018 Youth Olympics, in a lop-sided contest on Friday night. The two have played thrice in international circuit with the Japanese winning twice. Interestingly, it was Sen, who had defeated him in the 2018 Youth Olympics semifinals, their last meeting. The 21-year-old from Japan, however, proved to be a difficult customer on Friday as he produced a dominating performance to stay ahead for most part of the contest. After opening a 5-2 lead, Naraoka jumped to a 13-9 advantage at one stage. Sen had grabbed a slender 15-14 lead but the Japanese quickly moved ahead to earn the bragging rights. Things went further downhill for Sen in the second game as Naraoka led 5-1

Games beyond cricket: How to plan and build a career in rising sports

Indian athletes medal-winning streak is prompting young people to train for competitive events

Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen makes second round exit from Japan Open

Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in the second round to make an early exit from the Japan Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Wednesday. The 21-year-old from Almora, a 2021 world championships bronze medallist, went down 21-18 14-21 13-21 to world number 21 Nishimoto in a men's singles match that lasted an hour and six minutes. It was his first defeat to the Japanese in two meetings. Fast-rising men's doubles pairing of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, who jumped nine places to reach world number 26 after a quarterfinal finish at the World Championships, lost 21-19 21-23 15-21 to Korean combination of Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho. Mixed doubles pair of Juhi Dewangan and Venkat Gaurav Prasad lost 11-21 10-21 to Chinese top seed Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong in 23 minutes.

Satwik-Chirag secure India's first men's doubles medal at World C'ships

Star Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Reddy and Chirag Shetty assured themselves of a maiden medal at the World Championships after stunning world number 2 Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan in the quarterfinals here on Friday. The world number 7 Indian combination, which had claimed the Commonwealth Games gold medal earlier this month, dished out a gritty performance to outwit the local favourites and defending champions 24-22 15-21 21-14 in an hour and 15 minute to claim India first-ever men's doubles medal at the prestigious tournament. It was India's second World Championships medal in doubles with Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa claiming the first way back in 2011 in the women's doubles. Earlier, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila's fine run came to an end after the Indian pair lost to three-time gold medallists Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in their men's doubles quarterfinals. The unseeded Indian combination, who had some sensational wins this week, lost 8-21 14-2