Page 8 - Badminton

BWF World Championships: Satwik-Chirag, Treesa-Gayatri pairs enter round 3

Star Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the pre-quarterfinals with a comfortable straight-game win over Australian duo of Kenneth Zhe Hooi Choo and Ming Chuen Lim in the World Championships here on Wednesday. Indian women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also produced a solid performance to enter round 3 with a straight-game win over Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun of Chinese Taipei. World No. 2 pair of Satwik and Chirag, who had won a maiden bronze in the last edition, produced a clinical display to see off their Australian rivals 21-16 21-9 in 30 minutes. The reigning Commonwealth Games champions, who have won four titles this season, will face Indonesia's 10th seeds Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin next. Earlier, world number 19 Gayatri and Treesa, who reached the semifinals of the All England Championships in the last two editions, beat Chang and Yang, ranked 37th, 21-18 21-10 in 38 minutes. The India

BWF World Championships: HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen advance to second round

Star Indian shuttlers HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen progressed to the men's singles second round of the World Championships with straight-game wins over Finland's Kalle Koljonen and Mauritius' Georges Julien Paul respectively here on Monday. Prannoy, the world number 9, who reached the quarterfinals in the last two editions, saw off the left-handed Koljonen 24-22, 21-10 to extend his head-to-head count over the Finnish player to 3-0. Sen, the reigning Commonwealth Games gold medallist, then streamrolled Paul 21-12, 21-7 in 25 minutes to follow Prannoy into the second round. The Almora shuttler, who had won a bronze in the 2021 edition, is likely to meet Korea's Jeon Hyeok Jin, while the 31-year-old from Kerala is expected to face Indonesia's Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo next. The match between Prannoy and Koljonen turned into a tight battle in the opening game with the Finnish player quick to open up a 8-4 lead. But Prannoy reeled off seven straight points to grab a 11-8 lead at the ...

BWF World Championships: Lakshya Sen counting on recent form to win medal

A maiden medal at the Asian Games and breaking into the world's top 5 remain on his radar but Lakshya Sen's first priority is to extend his rich vein of form at the World Championships. And, he is counting on his recent showing to deliver the goods. After enduring a rough patch, Sen turned around his fortune with a title-winning run in Canada in July and followed it up with two semifinal finishes at the US Open and Japan Open. The 21-year-old from Almora, who claimed a maiden bronze at the World Championships in 2021, will hope to secure another medal when he begins his campaign in Copenhagen, Denmark on August 21. "World Championships being just a week ahead, I feel the past tournaments which I played will really help me go into the tournament," Sen told PTI on the sidelines of the inauguration of Badminton Association of India's National Centre of Excellence here. "The preparation has been good. The past few tournaments, the form has been going well, but there are still a few mo

Sindhu, Satwik-Chirag pair get first-round bye in BWF World Championships

Two-time Olympic medallist shuttler PV Sindhu and men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty received first-round byes in the BWF World Championships 2023 draw held here on Thursday. This year's BWF World Championships will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark from August 21 to 27. Sindhu, who won the women's singles world title in 2019, however, has been handed a tough draw and she might face Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon and top seed An Se Young of Korea as they are grouped in the top half of the draw. Sindhu is the only Indian to feature in the women's singles competition. The men's doubles combination of World Championships bronze medallists Satwik and Chirag achieved a career-best world no.2 ranking last month following their title triumph in Korea Open and are in the form of their life. India's men's singles challenge will be led by in-form HS Prannoy, seeded second in the upcoming event. He will will face Kalle Koljonen of Finland. The other Indians in the fr

Breaking into world's top three is my target now, not Olympics: HS Prannoy

He may be one of the front-runners in the Olympic race but star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy doesn't want to think about Paris right now and is instead focussing on "short-term targets" like breaking into the world's top three. The most consistent Indian singles player in the last 12 months, Prannoy, ranked world number 9, won the Malaysia Masters in May and came within sniffing distance of bagging another title in Sydney, before finishing runner-up at last week's Australian Open. "Right now, probably I am in a good position. I had a few decent tournaments post-May but I would say I am never satisfied and I always want to go out there and win big tournaments, that's been always my ambition," Prannoy told PTI. "Last couple of years, I have been consistently able to play quarterfinals and semifinals and now I am trying to make sure that I go that extra one more round and be in the final and win those tournaments." The 31-year-old Indian, who reached three quarterfinals and a semifinal

Australian Open Badminton: Hong scripts historic comeback to beat Prannoy

Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy capped off an impressive week with a runner-up finish at the Australian Open after his gallant fight ended in a heart-breaking loss to China's Weng Hong Yang in a thrilling men's singles final here on Sunday. Following a marathon 90 minutes of play, it was Prannoy who was left to bear the heartache as the 9-21 23-21 20-22 loss against world number 24 Weng robbed him of a chance to win his second BWF title of the season. With the win, the 24-year-old Weng, who had won the Korea Open last year and 2019 China Masters, settled the scores against Prannoy after going down in three games to the Indian at the Malaysia Masters final in May. Eight times this year, Prannoy has recovered from an opening game loss and went on to claim the match six times like he did against World number 2 Anthony Ginting in the quarterfinals. The script seemed to be going the same way before Weng staged a sensational comeback from 14-19 down in the decider. The 31-year-old from

PV Sindhu disappoints again, crashes out of Australian Open 2023

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu bowed out of the Australia Open after going down in straight games to USA's world number 12 Beiwen Zhang in the women's singles quarterfinals here on Friday. Sindhu, who has slipped to world number 17th following a series of early exits, was looking to make her fourth semifinal of the season but found it tough to tame Zhang, losing 12-21 17-21 in 39 minutes in the USD 420,000 super 500 tournament. In 10 past meetings, Sindhu had won six times against her opponent but she just couldn't get going on Friday against the 33-year-old Chinese-born American Zhang, who showed better control to come up trumps. Sindhu had beaten compatriots Ashmita Chaliha and Aakarshi Kashyap in the first two rounds but her loss to Zhang would come as a big disappointment as she heads to the World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark to be held from August 21 to 27. The 2019 world champion, Sindhu has been going through a lean patch since her recovery from an injury, and

Australia Open badminton: Mithun Manjunath shocks world champ Loh Kean Yew

Unheralded Indian Mithun Manjunath stunned fourth seed and world number seven Kean Yew Loh of Singapore in the opening round while PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth secured straight-game wins at the Australia Open badminton tournament here on Wednesday. Manjunath, ranked 50th in the world, beat Loh 21-19 21-19 in the men's singles first round match that lasted 41 minutes. Manjunath faces the winner of the match between Lee Zii Jia and Leong Jun Hao -- both Malaysians -- in the second round of the BWF Super 500 tournament. Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen conceded his men's singles match against compatriot Kiran George due to an injury. Sen was trailing 0-5 in the opening game when he decided to quit. Fifth seed Sindhu, who has lost in the first round at seven different tour events this season and is playing under a new personal coach in Malaysia's Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, defeated compatriot Ashmita Chaliha 21-18 21-13 in 36 minutes in her opening women's singles match. In other men's singles ..

Australia Open Badminton: PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth hope for a turnaround

Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will look to arrest their slump in form when they begin their campaign at the Australia Open badminton tournament here on Tuesday. The USD 420,000 event, which has been upgraded to a Super 500 tournament, will be the last chance for Sindhu and Srikanth to regain their touch ahead of the World Championships to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The 2019 world champion, Sindhu hasn't looked the part since her recovery from an injury as she has repeatedly made early exits in as many as seven of the 12 BWF World Tour events this year. A lot has happened this year for Sindhu as she parted ways with Korea's Park Tae-Sang, worked with SAI coach Vidhi Chaudhary before zeroing on new coach Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, the 2003 All-England champion. With back-to-back tournaments lined up, there is hardly any time but the two-time Olympic medallist will still hope to find her best self with the help of Hashim and try out some of her tricks when she

Japan Open 2023: Satwik-Chirag bow out; Lakshya Sen enters semifinals

India's Lakshya Sen continued his impressive run, notching up a straight-game win over local hope Koki Watanabe to progress to the semifinals of the Japan Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Thursday. A 2021 world championship bronze medallist, world number 13 Sen registered a 21-15 21-19 victory over Watanabe, ranked 33rd, to make his third successive semifinals, following his exploits in Canada and the United States. The 21-year-old from Almora, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, will play either fifth seed Indonesian Jonatan Christie or third seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn from Thailand. In-form men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, however, couldn't produce their 'A' game, going down fighting 15-21 25-23 16-21 to Olympic champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lan of Chinese Taipei. Sen, who had won the Canada Open Super 500 early this month, opened up a 5-3 lead early on before moving to 11-7 at the break. The Indian didn't have much problem negotiati

Axelsen vs Prannoy: How the Dane's endurance overpowered Indian's skills

India's HS Prannoy led 1-0 and 7-1 in the second game before Viktor Axelsen fought a battle against his frustrations and the Indian's skills to win the match in thrilling three sets

Japan Open Badminton: Prannoy, Lakshya and Satwik-Chirag move to last 8

India's HS Prannoy prevailed in the match of compatriots after Lakshya Sen and the in-form men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty sailed into the quarterfinals of the Japan Open badminton here on Thursday. The 21-year-old Birmingham Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sen advanced to the quarters with a convincing pre-quarterfinals 21-14, 21-16 win over Japanese shuttler Kanta Tsuneyama in straight sets. Fresh from their triumph in the Korea Open, the Indian men's doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj and Chirag too secured progress to the last-eight stage with their dominant win over the Danish pair of Lasse Molhede and Jeppe Bay. Satwiksairaj and Chirag won 21-17, 21-11. Then, in the match between compatriots Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth, the former emerged victorious with a 19-21, 21-9, 21-9 win to advance to the quarters of the Super 750 tournament. However, the Indian women's pairing of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly suffered an exit despite their valiant

Japan Open Badminton: PV Sindhu loses, makes another first-round exit

Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu made yet another first-round exit but Lakshya sen staved off a spirited challenge from fellow Indian Priyanshu Rajawat to progress to the second round of the Japan Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Wednesday. Newly-crowned Korea Open champion Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and and Chirag Shetty also made a positive start to their campaign, extending their unbeaten run to 11 matches, following the wins in Yeosu and Indonesia. Enduring a tough phase of her career, Sindhu lost 12-21 13-21 to Zhang Yi Man of China in her opener that lasted 32 minutes. It was her seventh first round exit in 13 BWF World Tour events this year. Canada Open champion Sen, returning to action after skipping the Korea event, too showed better mental fortitude to survive a scare against compatriot Rajawat, prevailing 21-15 12-21 24-22 in a 65-minute battle. Sen will face Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan in the second round. Sindhu, the 2019 world champion, has looked a pale shadow

Japan Open Badminton: Satwik-Chirag eye season's first Super 750 title

PV Sindhu and her new coach Hafiz Hashim will be under pressure not to bow out in the first round. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will spearhead India's challenge in Japan Open Super 750

Satwik-Chirag scale new heights, beat top seeds to win Korea Open title

Indian Men's Doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat world no. Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in three sets to win the Korea Open 500 title

Korea Open Badminton: Indian challenge over in Singles after Prannoy's loss

Indian badminton ace HS Prannoy made an early exit from the Korea Open Super 500 tournament as he lost his second round match to Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong here on Thursday. World number 10 Prannoy, seeded fifth in the tournament, lost 15-21 21-19 18-21 to his opponent ranked eight places below him in a closely-contested match that lasted one hour and six minutes. In another men's singles match, Priyanshu Rajawat gave a spirited fight against world number four and top-seeded Kodai Naraoka of Japan before losing 14-21 21-18 17-21 in a second-round match that went on for one hour 22 minutes. The Indian women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand was no match to the second seeded South Korean opponents Na Ha Baek and Hee So Lee as they lost 11-21 4-21 in just 33 minutes in the second round. The same was in case of the Indian mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy as they lost to fourth seeded Chinese pair of Zhe Yan Feng and Ping Dong Huang 15-21 12-21 in 35

PV Sindhu slips to world no. 17, her lowest ranking in over a decade

PV Sindhu slips to world number 17 in the BWF rankings released on Tuesday, slipping a further five places as the star grapples with inconsistent performance

Shuttler Rankireddy sets Guinness World Record for fastest badminton smash

Satwiksairaj broke a decade-long record which was set in May 2013 by Malaysian Tan Boon Heong, who had produced a speed of 493 km/h with his smash

'Going to be a hell of journey': Sindhu welcomes new coach Hafiz Hashim

Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu on Tuesday announced Indonesian Mohammad Hafiz Hashim as her new coach, saying he has all the traits, including the "pedigree" and "attacking instinct", that she was seeking ahead of next year's Paris Olympics. PTI had reported earlier that Sindhu had written to the Sports Authority of India (SAI), seeking its approval to train under the former All England champion Malaysian as part of the Sports Ministry's Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). "HERE WE GO!! In typical Fabrizio style, I am thrilled to announce Hafiz Hashim as my new coach!!," Sindhu, who is currently in Yeosu for the Korea Open Super 500 tournament, wrote in a social media post. "After a long, drawn-out process, I am ecstatic to declare that I have chosen the incredible Hafiz Hashim as my coach. "Hafiz possesses all the traits I was seeking in a coach, including the height, speed, and an attacking instinct. As a former All England champion in 2003, he sure has the pedigree as well

Satwik 'smashes' Guinness world record with fastest badminton hits

Star India shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy has set the Guinness world record for the fastest hit by a male player in badminton, recording a mindboggling 565 km/h with his smash. Satwik, who alongwith his partner Chirag Shetty won the Indonesia Open Super 1000 recently, thus broke a decade-long record set in May, 2013 by Malaysian Tan Boon Heong, who had produced a speed of 493 km/h (306.34 mph) with his smash. Satwik's smash was faster than the top speed of 372.6 km/h achieved by a Formula 1 car. Malaysia's Tan Pearly set the Guinness world record for the fastest female badminton hits with a remarkable speed of 438 km/h (about 272 mph). "Yonex is proud to announce that Yonex badminton athletes, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND) and Tan Pearly (MAS), have set new Guinness world records title for the fastest male and female badminton hits," the Japanese sports equipment manufacturing company said in a release. "Since the previous Guinness world records title for the fastest badminton h