Page 3 - Pv Sindhu

Shouldn't expect much from PV Sindhu at Asian Games warns Vimal Kumar

Repeated failures in tournaments this season has dented P V Sindhu's confidence and not much should be expected from the ace Indian shuttler at the Asian Games, says former India coach Vimal Kumar. The double Olympic medallist has found the going tough ever since returning from a five-month long lay-off following an ankle injury en-route to the Commonwealth Games gold last August. Desperate to arrest the slide, the 28-year-old sought help of legendary Prakash Padukone and trained under him at his Academy PPBA in Bengaluru last week. "We have been sitting and observing her sessions. Prakash spoke to her and tried to motivate her. We have also interacted with her coach (Muhammad Hafiz Hashim)," Vimal, who is the director of the PPBA, told PTI. "She is at the moment low on confidence and she has some work to do. We shouldn't expect much from her at the Asian Games," he added. The 2019 world champion has lost seven times in the first round of BWF tour events this year. A semifinal fi

BWF World Championships: Prannoy, Sen enter third round; Sindhu crashes out

Former champion PV Sindhu's wretched run continued as she bowed out of the World Championships, but HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen produced commanding performances to enter the third round in men's singles, here on Tuesday. The most successful Indian at World Championships with five medals, Sindhu lacked any sting in her attack and went down tamely 14-21 14-21 to old nemesis Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, a 2017 gold medallist and silver winner in 2019. It is the first time in her career that Sindhu, seeded 16th, has failed to reach the quarterfinals at the prestigious tournament. In men's singles, world No 9 Prannoy produced a masterclass as he tamed Indonesia's Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo 21-9 21-14 to set up a clash with 2021 champion, Loh Kean Yew of Singapore. Earlier, Sen, a bronze medallist at the 2021 edition, prevailed 21-11 21-12 over the world No 51 Korean Jeon Hyeok Jin. The Indian, thus, settled his score against the Korean, who had defeated him in their only meeting at the Asia Tea

BWF World Championships: Prannoy, Sen and Sat-Chi lead India's medal hunt

The in-form duo of HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen will be at the forefront of India's medal hunt at the BWF World Championships beginning here on Monday. All eyes will also be on Satwiksaraj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the country's best doubles pair at world number 2, as they look to better the colour of the bronze that they claimed in the last edition. India have won 13 medals, including one gold, four silvers and 8 bronze medals since 1977 when the tournament first started before turning into a biennial event from 1983 to 2005. It has been an annual event, with the exception of the Olympic year, ever since. While the legendary Prakash Padukone was the first Indian to win a medal -- a bronze -- at the World Championships in 1983, the country's shuttlers, led by PV Sindhu, have managed to win at least one medal since 2011. Sindhu, the 2019 champion, is the most successful Indian with five medals but she has not been able to reach the podium since Basel edition and has looked a pale

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

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 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

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

'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

US Open Badminton: Laksya Sen, PV Sindhu once again in focus for India

Newly-crowned Canada Open champion Lakshya Sen will hope to continue his winning momentum while beginning his campaign at the US Open Super 300 badminton tournament starting here on Tuesday. Sen turned around a health-related slump in form with a thrilling straight-game win over All England Champion Li Shi Feng in the finals of Canada Open on Sunday night. It was his first BWF title in 17 months and Sen will now train his eyes on US Open, where the third seeded Indian opens against Finland's Kalle Koljonen. Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth, who is going through a poor run of form, will face a tall task of taming second seed and world number 10 Feng, who reached the finals in Calgary. In women's singles, double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, seeded third, will continue her quest for a first title of the season when she opens her campaign against a qualifier. The Indian had reached the finals of Madrid Spain Masters this year and is coming into the tournament after a good outing at Canad

Canada Open Badminton: Lakshya Sen, PV Sindhu storm into the semi-finals

Commonwealth Games champions PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen notched up contrasting wins to advance to the semifinals of the Canada Open Super 500 badminton tournament here. Sindhu, a double Olympic medallist, stamped her authority over Fang Jie to register her first victory in four meetings against her opponent with a dominating 21-13 21-7 margin in the women's singles quarterfinals late on Friday night. Later, Sen staved off a spirited fight from German qualifier Julien Carraggi 21-8 17-21 21-10 in the men's singles quarterfinal. Sindhu will now face world number one Japan's Yamaguchi and Sen is pitted against fourth seeded Japanese Kenta Nishimoto. The 28-year-old from Hyderabad has a favourable 14-10 head-to-head record against the top seeded Japanese, who had beaten the Indian in their last meeting at Singapore Open this year. Sen, on the other hand, has a 1-1 record against Nishimoto, having last played him at the 2022 Japan Open. Sindhu looked more alert as she zoomed to a 5-1 l

Canada Open 2023: Shuttlers PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen enter quarterfinals

Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen progressed to the quarterfinals of the women's and men's singles competitions respectively at the Canada Open Super 500 tournament here. While Sindhu advanced to the last eight after her opponent Natsuki Nidaira of Japan gave a her a walkover, Sen notched up a 21-15 21-11 win over Brazil's Ygor Coelho in 31 minutes. Sindhu will face 2022 Indonesia Masters champion Gao Fang Jie, who had played an important role in China's win at the Asia Mixed Team Championships this year. Sen, who is a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, takes on Belgium's Julien Carraggi. However, Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala couldn't cross the pre-quarterfinal stage, going down 9-21 11-21 to Indonesian second seed and world number 7 Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. Sen has been slowly regaining his touch after going through a lean patch early in the season. On Thursday, Sen faced a tough battle against Coelho, who erased a 0-2 deficit wit

Canada Open: PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen in 2nd round after straight-game wins

Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen entered the pre-quarterfinals of the Canada Open after registering straight-game wins over their respective rivals in the BWF World Tour Super 500 event here. While Sindhu, seeded fourth, eased into the next round with an easy 21-16 21-9 win over Canada's Talia NG in her women's singles opening match on Wednesday night, Sen had to dig deep to stun second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-18 21-15 in the men's singles event. Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu will next play Japan's Natsuki Nidaira, while Sen will be up against Ygor Coelho of Brazil. But it was curtains for B Sai Praneeth as he lost 12-21 17-21 against Coelho. Ruthvika Shivani Gadde also exited in the first round, losing 12-21 3-21 against Supanida Katethong of Thailand in the women's singles. Sindhu, Sen and the men's doubles pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala will be seen in action later in the day. Krishna and Vishnuvardhan are up agai

BWF Rankings: PV Sindhu at 15, Chirag-Rankireddy at 3 in Men's Doubles

Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu slipped three places to drop to the 15th spot in the latest women's singles BWF World rankings issued on Tuesday. Sindhu, who dropped out of the elite top 10 in April this year, now has 51,070 points from 13 tournaments. The 27-year-old, who will be in action at the Canada Open Super 500 this week, has looked off colour this season after returning from a five-month long injury layoff following a stress fracture on her ankle en route her Commonwealth Games gold in August last year. The highlight this season has been a final finish at the Madrid Spain Masters Super 300 and a semifinal at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 for Sindhu, who made early exits from a series of events at the start of the year. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are the top-ranked Indian men's doubles players at world number 3. HS Prannoy, who occupies the 8th spot, is the best ranked Indian in the men's singles while Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth are placed 19th and

Indonesia Open: Sindhu, Prannoy make prequarters; Treesa-Gayatri bow out

Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu roared back to form ousting home favourite Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in straight games in the opening round of the Indonesia Open World Tour Super 1000 event, here on Tuesday. The double Olympic medallist and former world champion, who made first round exits from the last two events, took 38 minutes to prevail over her recent nemesis from Indonesia 21-19 21-15 and seal a pre-quarterfinal berth. This was also Sindhu's first win against Tunjung in her last three games as she had lost to the Indonesian in the Madrid Masters final and Malaysian Masters semifinal earlier this year. Sindhu, who has slipped to world No 13 in rankings, overcame a stiff challenge in the first game when the local challenger led 9-7 with a crosscourt drop. Using her height to full advantage, Sindhu snatched the lead 11-10 following three consecutive errors by Tunjung and sealed the first game. After an edgy start, Sindhu was in full flow in the second game, forcing Tunjung to co

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

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.