Page 2 - Badminton

Treesa-Gayatri upset World No. 2 Baek-Lee; Sindhu goes down to Marin

PV Sindhu suffered yet another setback against Carolina Marin, but the rising Indian women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand stunned world number two Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee of South Korea to enter the quarterfinals at Singapore Open here on Thursday. Double Olympic medallist Sindhu blew away 18-15 lead in the decider to go down to familiar rival Marin in a thrilling 21-13 11-21 20-22 women's singles last-16 match. It was Sindhu's sixth loss on the trot against her arch-rival dating back from 2018. But the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist duo of Treesa and Gayatri kept the Indian flag flying by eliminating Baek and Lee 21-9 14-21 21-15 in close to one-hour battle. This was world number 30 Indian duo's maiden win from three meetings against the world number two Korean pair. The Baek-Lee duo was error prone as Treesa and Gayatri held a commanding 18-9 lead before taking the opening game without much fuss. But the Indians allowed the South Koreans to bounce ba

Satwik-Chirag suffer shock defeat in opening round of Singapore Open

World No. 1 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out of the Singapore Open after suffering a shock defeat against Denmark's world number 34 Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard in the opening round, here Tuesday. One of the favourites to win a gold medal at Paris Olympics, Satwik and Chirag, who had claimed the Thailand Open super 500 early this month, lost 20-22 18-21 to Daniel and Mads in a 47-minute clash of the Super 750 badminton tournament. It turned out to be a dismal day for India as Aakarshu Kashyap and Priyanshu Rajawat also failed to cross the opening hurdle in singles competition. While world no. 41 Kashyap lost 7-21 15-21 to Thailand's Pornpicha Choeikeewong, ranked 42nd, Rajawat fought hard before going down 21-23 19-21 to Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu. Women's doubles pair of Rutuparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda also played their heart out before losing 12-21 21-12 13-21 to Chinese Taipei's Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun. Ashith Surya and Amrutha ...

Sindhu, Prannoy exit, Indian challenge ends in Badminton Asia Championships

India's challenge at the Badminton Asia Championships ended after double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy bowed out in pre-quarterfinals of their respective events here on Thursday. Sindhu, who is desperately seeking to rediscover her form ahead of the Paris Olympics, fought valiantly for for an hour and nine minutes but was outperformed by sixth seed Han Yue of China 18-21 21-13 17-21. It was Sindhu's first loss against Yue against whom she had a flawless 5-0 record before Thursday's contest. Seventh seed Prannoy went down meekly to unseeded Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei 18-21 11-21 in just 43 minutes. In another Indian result, the women's doubles combination of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa lost in the pre-quarterfinals, going down 17-21 12-21 to third seeded Japanese pair of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida. Sindhu vs Yue ========= The Indian started on a bright note in the first game and used her experience to race to an 8-4 lead, which she increased to 14-8

Badminton Asia Championships: Sindhu wins; Lakshya, Srikanth lose opener

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

Sindhu opts out of Uber Cup; strong side for Thomas Cup title defence

Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu and the two top doubles pairs have opted out of the Uber Cup but a strong men's team will take the court for its title defence in the Thomas Cup, commencing in Chengdu from April 27. Sindhu, who has played six tournaments since returning to action at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in February, pulled out of the event to give herself more time to recover and be battle-ready for the Paris Olympics. Top women's doubles pairs -- Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto -- also withdrew since it is not a full strength team with Sindhu missing. They chose to focus on the other assignments as they strive to earn the Olympics qualification. Following the withdrawal of Sindhu and the two pairs, Badminton Association of India (BAI) decided to reward the players who performed at the Senior National Championships by give them the India cap. "Sindhu opted out as she is coming back from an injury and she wants to give herse

Taapsee Pannu-Mathias Boe get married in an intimate event at Udaipur

Taapsee Pannu and Indian badminton coach Mathias Boe's decade-long relationship finally turned into a marriage. The couple married in an intimate event at Udaipur

Thomas Cup: Cahampions Indian men clubbed with Indonesians at group stage

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

Lakshya Sen signs off with creditable semifinal finish at All England

Star shuttler Lakshya Sen missed his date with history after stumbling to a three-game loss against Indonesia's Jonatan Christie in the semifinals of the All England Championships here on Saturday, prolonging India's long wait for the coveted trophy. In a game of fine margins, the 22-year-old, who had finished runner-up in the 2022 edition, was marginally short as he slipped to a 21-12, 10-21, 15-21 defeat to world No. 9 Christie, the 2018 Asian Games gold medallist, after a 68-minute smash-fest. "I am pretty disappointed with the result but, overall, the way I played, surely, I have the level to be there and win the big tournaments," Sen said after the match. "I have been through some tough patches before this, but there has been lot of support for me in social media but I couldn't do my best today. I made some easy mistakes." Christie will now face fellow Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in Sunday's final. Sen, who reached the semifinals of French Open Super 750 the previous

All England Championships: World number one pair Satwik-Chirag exit

World No. 1 Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out in the men's doubles pre-quarterfinals of the All England Badminton Championships after a straight game defeat against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana of Indonesia here. Satwik and Chirag on Thursday night lost 16-21 15-21 against the Indonesians, who were champions here in 2022. The top seeded Indian shuttlers, who had won the French Open last week, could not sustain the pressure on their rivals, the third seeds, and went down in a little over an hour. Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa also exited in the women's doubles round of 16, after a 21-11 11-21 11-21 defeat against Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu of China. Later today, India's Lakshya Sen will face Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia, a 2021 champion here, in the men's singles quarterfinals. Earlier, Sen had recorded a stunning three-game win over world No. 3 Anders Antonsen to progress to the quarterfinals. Sen won 24-22 11-21 21-14. However, it was

Lakshya's Paris hopes brighten, enters No.15 in Olympic Games qualification

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 ...

French Open Badminton: Satwik-Chirag duo sails into final, Lakshya loses

India's world number one pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the men's doubles final of the French Open Super 750 tournament after beating South Korea's Seo Seung Jae and Kang Min Hyuk in straight games here. This is the duo's third consecutive final of the year and the third time in this tournament. They won 21-13, 21-16 in the men's doubles semifinal on Saturday. However, Lakshya Sen's campaign in the tournament ended after he lost to reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand. Kunlavut won 20-22, 21-13, 21-11 in an hour and 18 minutes in his men's singles semi-finals. In a face-off between the two best pairs in the world, the Indian team of Rankireddy and Shetty dominated most of the match against the reigning world champions to get one back, after losing against the same pair in the India Open final earlier this year. After winning the first game comfortably, Rankireddy and Shetty gained the upper hand in the second game as well. Kang Min

French Open: Lakshya, Satwik-Chirag in semis, Sindhu loses epic battle

Lakshya Sen recorded a fine win, while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also stayed on course for the men's doubles title but a fighting PV Sindhu fell short in the women's singles quarterfinals at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Friday. Satwik and Chirag, the world No. 1 Indian pair, who had won the title in 2022, cruised into the semifinals with a 21-19 21-13 victory over Thailand's world No. 32 Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren at the Arena Porte de la Chapelle. The Asian Games champions, who had defeated the Malaysian pair of Man Wei Chong and Kai Woo Tee on Thursday night, will next meet world champions and third seeds Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae, who had beaten the Indian duo at the India Open final in January this year. Later world no. 19 Lakshya, who is trying to make the cut for Paris Olympics, also came from behind to outwit former world champion Loh Kean Yew 19-21 21-15 21-13 in a 78-minute clash. The 22-year-old from Almora thus bec

French Open Badminton: Satwik-Chirag, Treesa-Gayatri, Lakshya in round two

Star Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the second round of French Open Super 750 badminton tournament with a hard-fought win against Malaysia's Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi here on Tuesday. Satwik and Chirag, ranked world no. 1, had claimed the title in 2022. The Asian Games champions made a fine start to the tournament by outwitting the world no. 12 Malaysian combination 21-13 24-22 in 47 minutes for their fifth win in last eight meetings. Satwik and Chirag, who finished second best in their last three tournaments, will face another Malaysian pair of Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee in the next round. World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen came from behind to eke out a 15-21 21-15 21-3 win over Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama in his opening round fixture. The unseeded Indian will take on third seed Li Shen Feng in the pre-quarterfinal. Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also progressed to the second round after .

Indian badminton duo Satwik-Chirag eye 2022 en core in French Open

Former champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be hoping to be fourth time lucky after three successive runner-up finishes when they begin their campaign at the USD 850,000 French Open Super 750 badminton tournament starting here on Tuesday. The world No. 1 Indian pair faltered at the finishing line thrice to sign off as second best at 2023 China Masters Super 750 in November, Malaysia Open Super 1000 and India Open Super 750 events in January and will start as title favourites this week. It will also be an opportunity for the top Indian shuttlers to look to get a feel of the conditions at the Adidas arena at Porte de la Chapelle which is set to be the venue for the Paris Olympics. The top seeded Indians, who won the French Open in 2022, have been the epitome of consistency in men's doubles, which is considered to be highly competitive and are likely to make the weekends once again after opening their campaign against Malaysian combination of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee

PM Modi hails Indian women's Badminton Asia Team Championships win

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed as "historical accomplishment" Indian women shuttlers winning the Badminton Asia Team Championships, and said the way our 'nari shakti' (women power) has been excelling in various sports is phenomenal. Anmol Kharb yet again performed when it mattered, winning the decisive fifth rubber to lead the Indian women to a historic Badminton Asia Team Championships title with a tight 3-2 victory over a depleted Thailand, in Malaysia's Shah Alan on 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. In a post on X, Modi said, "A historical accomplishment! Congratulations to the incredible Indian team who have, for the first time ever, won the Women's Team Trophy at the Badminton Asia Championships. Their success will motivate several upcoming athletes." "The way our Nari Shakti has been excelling in various sports is just phenomenal," he

We can expect a Paris medal from Treesa-Gayatri if they qualify: Vimal

Former India coach Vimal Kumar is mighty impressed with doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand and feels the young Indian combination will be a definite contender for an Olympic medal if they qualify for the Paris Games. The pairing of the two 20-year-olds played a vital role as India scripted wins over badminton powerhouses like China, Japan and Thailand on successive days en route a first-ever gold medal at the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) here on Sunday. Treesa and Gayatri stunned world No. 6 Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida from Japan and world No. 10 Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Pra Jongjai of Thailand in the semifinal and final respectively. The duo also beat China's world No. 22 Luo Xu Min and Li Yi Jing in the league stage. "I give a lot of credit to Treesa and Gayatri for the way they have performed this week. They have done incredibly well. They have a great chance of a medal, if they qualify for the Olympics. We can definitely expect a meda

Badminton Asia Team C'ships: Indian women face Thailand for gold medal

Indian women shuttlers' dream run continued as they progressed to their first-ever final at the Badminton Asia Team Championships after edging out two-time former champions Japan 3-2 in a thrilling semifinal here on Saturday. World No. 23 pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, world No. 53 Ashmita Chaliha and the 17-year-old Anmol Kharb registered stunning wins in the first doubles and second and deciding singles to take India through to the summit clash. India will face Thailand in the final on Sunday. Though Japan were without their world No. 4 Akane Yamaguchi, world No. 7 pair of Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota and world No. 8 combination of Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara, they were still a formidable side, making it a tough battle for India. Returning from a long injury layoff, Sindhu had enjoyed wins against China's Han Yue and Hong Kong's Lo Sin Yan Happy but she couldn't produce her best against the left-handed Aya Ohori, going down 13-21, 20-22 in the first single

Indian women clinch historic gold in Badminton Asia Team Championships

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

Badminton Asia Team C'ships: Indian women assured of historic first medal

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

Badminton Asia Championship: Sindhu returns to court, India stun China 3-2

Two-time Olympic-medallist P V Sindhu made a winning return from a lengthy injury lay-off as India stunned formidable China 3-2 in the women's competition of the Badminton Asia Team Championships here on Wednesday. With just two teams in Group W, India were assured of a knock-out round berth even before their opening match but the team made its mark in style with the shock win over the top-seeded Chinese team. Sindhu, who was missing in action since October last year due to a knee injury at the French Open, led the way as she beat higher-ranked Han Yue 21-17 21-15 in 40 minutes to give India 1-0 lead in the tie. The 28-year-old, who won a silver in the 2016 Olympics followed by a bronze in the Tokyo Games, is currently ranked 11th while Yue is world number eight. The pair of Tanisha Castro and Ashwini Ponappa then lost to Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning 19-21 16-21, followed by Ashmita Chaliha's 13-21 15-21 loss to world number nine Wang Zhi Yi as India trailed 1-2 after three ...