Badminton

Who is PV Sindhu's fiance, Venkata Datta Sai who once managed an IPL team?

India's star badminton player PV Sindhu is set to tie the knot with Hyderabad-based Venkata Datta Sai this month. Sai once managed an IPL team and is an executive director with Posidex Technologies

Top seeds Sindhu, Lakshya advance to semis at Syed Modi Tournament

Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen moved a step closer to clinching the women's and men's singles title respectively, registering straight-game wins to advance to the semifinals of the Syed Modi International Super 300 badminton tournament here on Friday. Top seed Sindhu, a two-time champion at the event (2017, 2022), defeated China's Dai Wang 21-15, 21-17 in a 48-minute women's singles quarterfinal. Lakshya, the 2021 World Championship bronze medallist, also dominated his match, beating compatriot Meiraba Luwang Maisnam 21-8, 21-19 in the men's singles quarterfinal. Today's match was important. Even though she is a low-ranked player, it doesn't matter. I have rectified my mistakes from yesterday, what went wrong I have not made those again today. I was aggressive from the beginning. Overall, I am happy with my game compared to yesterday, Sindhu said. Sindhu is ranked 18th in the world while Wang is at 118th. "Yesterday, it was a rough patch at some point of time. But

Let the games end: Athletes have better platforms than Commonwealth Games

Six of the 12 disciplines in which India scored medals have been dropped. Fully 30 of the 61 medals India won in the 2022 edition in Birmingham came from sports that won't be on the 2026 roster

Very bad decision to exclude badminton from Commonwealth Games: Chirag

Former world No.1 doubles shuttler Chirag Shetty termed the exclusion of badminton from the 2026 Commonwealth Games curriculum a wrong decision, and questioned how the organisers could do away with the most popular sport in the event. The 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games on Tuesday unveiled a heavily scaled-down roster, excluding hockey, shooting, cricket, badminton and wrestling from the curriculum, a move which will severely hurt India's medal prospects at the quadrennial event. "I think it's a very bad decision, to be honest. I can say for badminton, I think it's the most watched sport. It's definitely one of the most watched sports in the Commonwealth Games," said Chirag, who along with partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy is the 2022 Birmingham CWG men's doubles champions, besides being the mixed team gold medallist at Gold Coast in 2018. He said the popularity of the sport in CWG could be gauged from the fact that virtually all badminton competitions are played in front of a packed

South Korean great Lee Hyun Il roped in as PV Sindhu's consulting coach

Double Olympic medallist shuttler PV Sindhu will have South Korean great Lee Hyun Il as her consulting coach on interim basis as she bolstered her coaching team ahead of her anticipated return to action next month. The move came after the recent appointment of Anup Sridhar as Sindhu's interim coach. The duo will be in Sindhu's coaching team till December 2024. A decision on a permanent coaching team is expected by that time. Sindhu is expected to return to competitive action at the Finland Open and Denmark Open, both in October. Hyun Il, a former world No. 1 and Sindhu's teammate during the Premier Badminton League (PBL), brings vast international experience and a reputation for meticulous preparation. He is a 2006 world championships bronze medallist in singles and has two Asian Games team gold medals in 2002 and 2014. His inclusion, alongside Sridhar, was aimed at creating a dynamic coaching duo that blends experience, tactical precision, and deep knowledge of the sport. Both the

My biggest goal is to get PV Sindhu back on the podium: Coach Sridhar

PV Sindhu still has the hunger to succeed, and the primary aim is to help her regain consistency, says her new coach Anup Sridhar, who has been roped in by the two-time Olympic medallist on a trial basis following the Paris Games. Sindhu, who returned from the French capital without a medal for the first time in three Olympics, has been training under Sridhar, a Beijing Olympian, for the past three weeks at the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad. "I spoke with Sindhu's team a few weeks ago, and she has been training under me in Hyderabad since the start of this month. We've made significant progress, and in two weeks, we'll head to tournaments in Europe," the 41-year-old Sridhar, who also briefly coached Lakshya Sen, told PTI. Sindhu lost in the pre-quarters to China's He Bingjiao at the Paris Games and will restart her BWF world tour season with the European leg, which includes the USD 420,000 Arctic Open in Vantaa, Finland (October 8-13), and the USD 850,000 Denmark Open (October ...

BAI announces cash rewards for Paralympics 2024 medal-winning shuttlers

The Badminton Association of India announced on Tuesday a total reward of Rs 50 lakh for the para shuttlers who secured medals at the Paris Paralympics last month. Indian para shuttlers won five medals, including one gold, two silver and as many bronze, at the Paris Games. Nitesh Kumar, who clinched the coveted gold in the men's Singles SL3 category, will receive a prize of Rs 15 lakh, while silver medallists Suhas Yathiraj (men's singles SL4) and Thulasimathi Murugesan (women's singles SU5) will each be awarded Rs 10 lakh. Bronze-medal winners Manisha Ramadass (women's singles SU5) and Nithya Sre Sivan (women's single SH6 category) will each receive Rs 7.5 lakh. Thulasimathi, Manisha and Nithya made history by becoming the first Indian women shuttlers to secure medals at the Paralympics. "Indian para badminton players have been performing consistently on the world stage and the cash rewards are just one way for BAI to recognise their efforts in helping the country win medals at t

Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat makes 1st-round exit from China Open

Rising Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat suffered a straight-game defeat to Canada's Brian Yang as he made an opening-round exit from the China Open here on Tuesday. The 22-year-old Indian, who won the Orleans Master last year, went down 13-21 16-21 to his Canadian opponent in a 36-minute men's round-of-32 contest of the Super 1000 tournament. Rajawat, the world number 36, was a member of the Indian team that won the historic Thomas Cup title two years ago. World number 40 Kiran George is now the lone Indian challenger left in the men's singles event. He will take on Japanese shuttler Kenta Nishimoto in the round of 32. The Indian shuttler, who competed at the Paris Olympics including PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, are giving the tournament, the year's last BWF Super 1000 event, a miss. Commonwealth Games bronze medallist duo of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly and Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda will compete

Saina Nehwal to take decision on retirement by the end of year 2024

Ace Indian shuttler and former Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal has revealed that she is battling arthritis and will have to decide on her future in badminton by the end of this year as the ailment has made it impossible for her to train the usual hours. The 34-year-old former world No.1, who was the first Indian shuttler to win an Olympic medal with her bronze in London 2012, participated in three editions of the Games before being hampered by injuries. The 2010 and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist said she can no longer overlook the fact that her career is in its final leg. "The knee is not very good. I have arthritis. My cartilage has gone to a bad state. It is very difficult to push for eight-nine hours," Nehwal said on the 'House of Glory' podcast hosted by shooting great Gagan Narang, who was India's chef-de-mission in the recent Paris Olympics. "How will you challenge the best players in the world in such a state? I think I will have to accept it somewhere. Becaus

India to send 39-member squad for junior badminton championships in China

India will be sending a 39-member squad to the Badminton Asia (U-15/U-17) junior championships in Chengdu, China, from August 20-25 with an aim to create a strong pool of players ahead of next year's World Junior Championship, which the country is hosting. The Indian contingent, which was picked after extensive selection trials in Bengaluru, will be led by Gnana Dattu and Tanvi Reddy Andluri in the U-17 category, while Shyam Bindiganavile and Tanvi Patri will be the top singles players in the U-15 category. In the last edition of the BAC championship, which was held in the same city, India had bagged one gold, one silver and one bronze with Bornil Changmai standing atop the U-15 boy's singles podium. The Indian contingent left for Chengdu on Saturday after an extensive preparatory camp at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati under the watchful eyes of the Indian and foreign coaches. Speaking about the team's chances, Badminton Association of India (BAI) secretary Sanjay ..

Govt & federations have done whatever they can: Padukone on shuttlers show

India have roped in several foreign coaches and Padukone, who trains PV Sindhu, said it's time that India bring sports psychologists from aborad.

“Disappointed”: Former Badminton player Prakash Padukone reacts after Lakshya Sen’s loss at Olympics

Olympics 2024: Lakshya Sen stuns the crowd with his no-look backhand

While the victory was special in itself, what stayed with fans was his unbelievable no-look backhand shot against his opponent which had Christie surprised and beaten in the 1st game

Olympics 2024: Ponnappa-Crasto stare at early exit after group stage defeat

India's Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto were staring at an early exit after suffering their second consecutive group stage defeat in the women's doubles badminton competition at the Paris Olympic here on Monday. The Indians went down 11-21 12-21 to the world number four Japanese duo of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida in the 48-minute Group C match. They had lost their opener against South Korea's Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong. Ponnappa and Crasto, world number 19, are currently placed third in their group behind the Japanese and the South Koreans. The two top ranked pairs from each group qualify for the quarterfinals. "A bit disappointed because this was the only shot we had for a chance to get to the quarters. Not the way we wanted to play but they were very strong. I wish we had given them a better fight. We have one more match and hope we can win that," Ponnappa said after the game. "They were very strong, offensively and defensively. Defensively we were a bit lacking to

Paris Olympics 2024 highlights, Day 2: HS Prannoy wins opener; Manu Bhaker wins Bronze

Olympics 2024 highlights: HS Prannoy has won his group K opener vs GER. Rafael Nadal's his 1st round match. Manu wins bronze in shooting. Check Paris 2024 highlights here

Don't experiment new things in preparation ahead of Olympics: Gopichand

India's chief national coach Pullela Gopichand on Wednesday advised the country's shuttlers not to experiment much in their preparation ahead of the Paris Olympics, while also insisting that two-time medallist PV Sindhu has the potential to shine again at the sporting extravaganza. India will be represented by seven players across four out of five categories in the badminton competition at the Games here. Led by two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu (women's singles), the squad has HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen (men's singles), Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (men's doubles), and Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto (women's doubles). "I think the generic message to all the athletes would be to treat it like another match and it's important that you don't do any strange things for preparation; keep it simple and treat it like another game, get the preparation right and the matches will take care of themselves," Gopichand told PTI ahead of Friday's opening ceremony. Talking about

Paris Olympics: Neeraj Chopra's gold boosts athletic budget by over 1600%

Paris Olympics: Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will lead a 28-member contingent of athletes at the Paris Olympics, in which a total of 118 Indians will participate

Paris Olympics: What to know, who to watch during badminton competition

A roadmap to follow for the badminton competition during the Paris Olympics: Athletes to Watch: Beiwen Zhang, United States: After winning the women's singles gold at the 2023 Pan American Games, the 33-year-old is the best shot at the first American badminton medal at the Olympics since its debut as a medal event in 1992. Born in China, Zhang moved to Singapore as a teenager in 2007 and has represented the U.S. internationally since 2013. Viktor Axelsen, Denmark: Axelsen was Europe's only medalist (gold) in Tokyo three years ago, and he was the top qualifier for Paris. At 30, this will be his third Olympics; he won bronze in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Chen Yu Fei, China: The defending women's singles champion led China to a tournament win in May and finished behind only An Se-young of South Korea in the Paris qualification rankings. Storylines to Follow: The U.S. mixed doubles team of Vinson Chiu and Jennie Gai qualified at the Pan Am Games. It still will be an uphill climb for the

Olympian PV Sindhu joins wellness brand Hoop as investor, brand ambassador

Founded in 2022, Hoop brands itself as India's first wellness brand for an active lifestyle, which focuses on a range of wellness products to deal with effective pain, sleep, stress, and workout

Making a racquet: Can Indian tennis match the success of badminton?

'What I can tell you is that we have been able to create an ecosystem for badminton. I also believe that Indians have a physicality for the sport'