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
Badminton ace PV Sindhu says she is "going all-out" in her quest to become the first Indian to win an unprecedented third individual Olympic medal in Paris, drawing on her experience from a successful past. Sindhu stands on the brink of history as she pursues the gold medal in the upcoming Games, having won a silver and bronze in 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo edition respectively. In an exclusive conversation on JioCinema's 'The Dreamers,' Sindhu spoke about her unwavering focus on making history at Paris, though it is going to be an extremely difficult task for the Indian star. "That third medal at Paris definitely motivates me, and I am going all-out to get that gold medal. For me, the Olympics is where I give my 200%," Sindhu said. "The journeys in 2016 and 2020 were wonderful, filled with immense effort and unforgettable moments. "As I prepare for Paris 2024, it's a fresh start, and I have to give my 100% no matter what." Ranked among the world's top players, Sindhu draws from her
Premier Indian doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who pulled out of their title defence at Indonesia Open last week, slipped two rungs to third in the latest Badminton World Federation rankings on Tuesday. China's Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang are the new men's doubles No.1s followed by Denmark's Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, who jumped two places. The Chirag-Satwik pair won the Thailand Open in May to reclaim the No.1 ranking but suffered loss of form and made a first-round exit from the Singapore Open last month. The Indians have also pulled out of the ongoing Australian Open. In men's singles, HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen remained inside top-15, maintaining their 10th and 14th positions respectively. Kidambi Srikanth dropped four places to be No 32, while Priyanshu Rajawat (No 34) and Kiran George (No 35, up by one place) were the next best Indians. Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindu remained static at No 10 in the women's singles rankings. I
Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen's hopes of making the cut at Paris received a boost as he grabbed the 15th position in the latest Olympic Games Qualification rankings following his semifinal finish at last week's French Open badminton tournament. The 22-year-old from Almora had reached a career-best ranking of world number six in November 2022 but saw his rankings plummet to world No. 25 in April last year. He recovered to 11th spot by August but fell to 20 early this year following a series of early exits. Things were not looking good after his first-round losses in Malaysia Super 1000 and India Super 750 as he stayed world No. 19 in the Olympic Games qualification for a few weeks but a semifinal finish at the Super 750 event in the French capital last week saw him take his tally to 74,897 points. The 2021 World Championships bronze medallist also climbed a spot to world number 18 in the BWF World rankings issued on Tuesday. However, the 2023 World Championships bronze ...
Anmol Kharb yet again performed when it mattered, winning the decisive fifth rubber to lead Indian women to a historic Badminton Asia Team Championships title with a tight 3-2 victory over a depleted Thailand, here Sunday. The young sprightly group of Indian women's team, led by seasoned PV Sindhu, defied all expectations to come up trumps against two-time bronze medallists Thailand. It is first-ever major title for Indian women in Team championships and provides a big boost to the team ahead of the Uber Cup, which is set to be held in Chengdu, China from April 28 to May 5. India had won two medals in the past with the men's team claiming bronze medals in the 2016 and 2020 editions. "It is a great moment for Indian badminton. I give a lot of credit to these youngsters. They displayed great spirit, they were supporting each other and the atmosphere was just like it was when India won the Thomas Cup. So this is a special moment for India," former India coach Vimal Kumar told PTI. Th
Indian women shuttlers assured themselves of a maiden Badminton Asia Team Championships medal by cruising to a 3-0 win over Hong Kong in the quarterfinals here on Friday. After stunning top seeds China to top the group stage, India blanked Hong Kong riding on wins from double Olympic-medallist PV Sindhu, Ashmita Chaliha and the doubles pair of Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto. Returning from a long injury layoff, Sindhu registered a hard-fought 21-7, 16-21, 21-12 win against a lower-ranked Lo Sin Yan Happy. The women's doubles combination of Tanisha and Ponnappa then doubled the lead by getting the better of world no. 18 combination of Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam 21-10, 21-14 in 35 minutes. Ashmita then wrapped up the tie with a comfortable 21-12, 21-13 triumph over Yeung Sum Yee, assuring the team of at least a bronze. "It is a comfortable result for the women's team. I am very happy with their performance," former national coach Vimal Kumar, who is with the team, told PTI
The number two seed Indian duo of Satwik-Chirag want to take this loss as inspiration to do well in the upcoming tournaments, including the Paris Olympics
Indian men's doubles duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost yet another final as they went down to world champion Korean pair of Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae 21-15, 11-21 and 18-21
China's Shi Yu Qi beat Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu in straight sets 23-21, 21-17 to win his second India Open title in the men's singles category He first won in 2018 as a 21-year-old
Tai Tzu Ying beat Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei of China to clinch her maiden India Open title with a straight-sets win
Thailand pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai lifted their first-ever India Open title as they beat Chinese pair Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin
Lakshya Sen, ranked 17th in the world received a dent in his chances of direct qualification to the Paris Olympics after he was beaten by world number 30, compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat
Satwik-Chirag came back from 11-18 down to win the second game 21-18 and the match 22-20 and 21-18 to enter their second Super 1000 tournament final
The race to Paris will decide the participants for the Paris Olympics Badminton tournament. India's HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen in men's singles could qualify directly
With the Paris Olympic qualification at stake, top Indian shuttlers, including HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen, will hope to begin the new season on a bright note when they start their campaign at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament here on Tuesday. A lot will be on the line for Indian shuttlers in the next four months as they zoom through a hectic calender, hoping to get inside the world's top-16 by April end to book their berths for the Paris Games. Frontrunner in the Olympic race, world no. 8 Prannoy, had a sensational season with maiden bronze medals at the World Championships and the Asian Games and a title-run at the Malaysia Masters super 500. He also registered a final finish at the Australia Open super 500. The 31-year-old, seeded 8th, will hope to continue his rich vein of form when he opens against Denmark's Anders Antonsen, who made a successful comeback from an injury by winning the Korea Open in 2023. All eyes will also be on Lakshya and Kidambi Srikanth as t
Lakshya Sen is aware that his Olympic qualification is still in choppy waters but said he has been working on his "variations" and "deceptions" during the off-season to regain his world's top-10 position and seal his Paris Games berth. The 22-year-old from Almora is currently ranked 17th in the Olympic Games qualification rankings and needs to stay inside the top 16 by April-end to make it to the Paris Games. "To secure the spot I still have to work a little more harder in terms of getting good results, and once that is done, the qualification won't be an issue," Sen told PTI during an interview ahead of his departure to Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. "For me, right now the main concern is to go deep into the tournament in the next few months until April and then ranking will follow. As of now, we are not in a comfortable stage in the qualification ranking. "I would like to improve my ranking and come in the top-10 by the end of qualification." Commonwealth Games champion Sen claimed the
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
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
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
The Indian pair displaced the Chinese pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang to attain a second spot, gaining a place, in BWF's latest rankings.