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Kidambi Srikanth
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu survived some tense moments before progressing to the women's singles second round but it was curtains for Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth in men's singles at the Badminton Asia Championships here on Wednesday. Sindhu, who is desperately seeking to rediscover her form ahead of the Paris Olympics, almost blew away a five-point advantage in the decider before managing a gritty 18-21 21-14 21-19 win against world number 33 Goh Jin Wei from Malaysia. Sindhu had lost to her Malaysian opponent the last time they meet in Sudirman Cup though the Indian has a 4-1 record against her. Next up for Sindhu is China's Han Yue, against whom the Indian has a flawless 5-0 record. It was, however, a difficult day for Olympic-bound Sen, who lost 19-21 15-21 to local favourite and top seed Shi Yu Qi, and Srikanth, who suffered a 14-21 13-21 loss against Indonesia's Anthony Ginting in the opening round. Talented Priyanshu Rajawat also crashed out in the men's singles
Reigning champions Indian men's team has been clubbed with heavyweights Indonesia while the women's side was placed alongside mighty China in the Thomas and Uber Cup after the draw for the tournament was conducted here on Friday. The Indian men's team, which will be defending its maiden title, has been placed in a tricky group. Besides last year's runner-up and record 14-time winners Indonesia, India have Thailand and England to nullify in Group C. India became only the sixth country in the world to lift the Thomas Cup in 2022 after stunning Indonesia 3-0 in the final at Bangkok. In the Uber Cup, the Indian women's badminton team has been drawn in Group A alongside hosts and the most successful nation in the tournament's history -- 15-time winner China The other teams in Group A are Canada and Singapore. Indian women have reached the semifinals of the Uber Cup thrice in 1957, 2014 and 2016. The Indian men's team qualified automatically by virtue of being the defending champions
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
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 ..
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
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
Commonwealth Games champion Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen and compatriot Kidambi Srikanth eased into the second round of the men's singles at the Indonesia Open World Tour Super 1000 event with a straight-game wins over their respective rivals here on Wednesday. While Lakshya, a world championship bronze medallist and ranked 20th in the world, took just 32 minutes to quell the challenge of world no.11 over Zii Jia Lee of Malaysia 21-17 21-13, Srikanth beat Guang Zu Lu of China 21-13 21-19. The win helped Srikanth, ranked 22nd, to continue his dominance over world no.13 Lu, extending his head-to-head record against the Chinese to 5-0. But it will be curtains for either Lakshya or Srikanth in the next round as they will take on each other. Another Indian Priyanshu Rajawat got a walkover from Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand to seal his place in the next round. Rajawat, however, has a tough second round tie as he set to face the winner of the match between Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittnghus