Singapore: After sending Taufik Hidayat into retirement, India's B Sai Praneeth caused another big upset by defeating second seed Yun Hu of Hong Kong in the men's singles first round of the Singapore Open Super Series here on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old Sai, ranked 61 in the world, thrashed World No. 4 Hu 21-9, 21-10 in exactly half an hour at the Singapore Indoor Stadium to level his head-to-head to 1-all.
Women's singles second seed Saina Nehwal also advanced to the second round by beating localite Juan Gu 21-14, 23-21 in 40 minutes. This was the fifth time the Hyderabadi beat Juan out of six meetings. The World No.2 will next face Japanese Eriko Hirose in the second round.
In the mixed doubles, Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan beat Thai pair Songphon Anugritayawon and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul 21-17, 19-21, 21-12 in 45 minutes. Thugh Aparna won in mixed, it was disappointment for her in women's doubles losing, with partner N Siki Reddy, to Malaysia's Meng Yean Lee and Yin Loo Lim 21-18, 18-21, 6-21 in 49 minutes....
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08:26 PM, Jun 19, 2013
Bangalore: Hyderabad-based PVP Group Wednesday became the first franchise of the proposed 1 million dollar Indian Badminton League (IBL). PVP Group chairman Prasad V. Potluri said: "We are extremely delighted with our association with the Indian Badminton League. PVP Group aims to utilise this platform and will ensure that badminton in India grows and continues to produce world champions. "Badminton has brought huge laurels for India in the past and...
07:26 PM, Jun 19, 2013
Singapore: Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal avenged her quarter-final loss at the Thailand Open by Juan Gu with a comfortable straight-game victory over the Singaporean in the opening round of the Singapore Super Series here on Wednesday. The World number two Indian took 40 minutes to pack off Juan, ranked 21, 21-14 23-21 in the women's singles competition at the Singapore Indoor Stadium to record her fifth victory over the...
06:42 PM, Jun 19, 2013
Singapore: Indian shuttlers P.C. Thulasi, Arundhati Pantawane and B. Sai Praneeth entered the main draw after winning the qualification rounds of their respective categories at the Singapore Open Super Series here Tuesday. Sai Praneeth, who sent legendary Taufik Hidayat into retirement last week, won both his men's singles qualification matches. The youngster beat Japanese Riichi Takeshita 21-12, 22-20 in 36 minutes after overcoming Malaysian Muhammad Hafiz Hashim 21-13, 21-15 in...
04:53 PM, Jun 18, 2013
Singapore: After failing to retain crowns in Thailand and Indonesia in the last couple of weeks, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal will now look to break her nine-month title drought when she begins her campaign in the Singapore Super Series here on Wednesday. The world number two Indian has been going through a dip in form, besides having some injury concerns and it reflected in her performance at Thailand and...
01:47 PM, Jun 18, 2013
Singapore: Thailand Open champion K Srikanth will look to continue his rampaging form and qualify for the main draw when he begins his campaign in the Singapore Super Series here on Tuesday. Second seed in the qualifiers, Srikanth will take on Henri Hurskainen of Sweden in his opener. Among other Indians, HS Prannoy will take on Finland's Ville Lang and senior shuttler Arvind Bhat will meet Ireland's Scott Evans. Sai...
05:55 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Jakarta: Legendary Indonesian shuttler Taufik Hidayat bade a tearful goodbye to his loyal fans and his country's badminton association (PBSI) here on Sunday at the end of a 17-year-long spectacular professional career. "After 25 years of playing badminton, in which 17 years (were) as a professional player in national and international tournaments, this time is probably the best time for me to retire," a teary-eyed Taufik said in front of...
06:17 PM, Jun 16, 2013
Jakarta: Malaysia's top seed Lee Chong Wei won the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier men's singles title for the fifth time, beating German Marc Zwiebler 21-15, 21-14 here Sunday. Unseeded Zwiebler was no match to Lee, who had won the tournament in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011, as the 30-year-old Malaysian wrapped up the final match in just 40 minutes, reports Xinhua. "I hope I'll come back here next year....
02:59 PM, Jun 16, 2013
Jakarta: Bao Yixin and Cheng Shu upset their Chinese compatriots Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang in a tough three-game match to win the women's doubles title at the $700,000 Indonesia Open Super Series Premier here on Sunday. Bao-Cheng won the match 15-21, 21-18, 21-18 and received $55,300 for their victory, reports Xinhua. "We never thought about the results before the competitions. And we just tried to focus on our game...
01:54 PM, Jun 16, 2013
Jakarta: An erratic Saina Nehwal failed to defend her title at the Indonesian Super Series Premier after suffering a three-game defeat to Germany's Juliane Schenk in the semi-finals of the women's singles competition here on Saturday. World number two Saina, who won the title three times - in 2009, 2010 and 2012 - lost 21-12, 13-21, 14-21 to Schenk, ranked fourth, in a contest that lasted for 52 minutes at...
06:28 PM, Jun 15, 2013
Chinese badminton is once again coming under fire after world number three Du Pengyu's shock loss to unranked Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka at the Indonesia Super Series event. The sport's governing body, the Badminton World Federation, has long been concerned about players withdrawing from 'smaller' events and team mates pulling out of matches to avoid competing against each other. The issue blew up at last year's London Olympics when four women's...
01:49 PM, Jun 15, 2013
Jakarta: Defending champion Saina Nehwal entered the women's singles semi-finals of the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier defeating Spaniard Carolina Marin at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium here on Friday. However, it was the end of the road for men's singles shuttlers Ajay Jayaram and RMV Gurusaidutt, who lost their respective quarter-final matches. It was considerably an easy outing for Saina, who won the tournament in 2009, 2010 and...
06:54 PM, Jun 14, 2013
Jakarta: Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram suffered a straight game defeat to German Marc Zwiebler to crash out of the men's singles competition at the Indonesian Super Series Premier here on Friday. World number 25 Jayaram failed to negotiate the brilliant net play of his opponent and lost 16-21, 15-21 in a 34 minute duel. Marc had beaten Jayaram in the Thailand Grand Prix Gold in 2008 but the Indian had...
04:35 PM, Jun 14, 2013
New Delhi: London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal retained her second position in the world rankings despite making the quarterfinal exit at the Thailand Open in the women's singles. Rising teen sensation, P V Sindhu has also maintained her 11th position and is just a step short of breaking into the Top-10 for the first time in her career. Meanwhile, Mumbai's Ajay Jayaram jumped three places to 25 while RMV...
06:35 PM, Jun 13, 2013
Jakarta: Defending champion Saina Nehwal and R.M.V. Gurusaidutt and Ajay Jayaram won their respective matches to advance to the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier here Thursday. In women's singles, World No.2 Saina defeated unseeded Japanese Sayaka Takahashi 21-13, 21-19 in 39 minutes in their first ever career meet at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium. The second seed will face Spaniard Carolina Marin in their first ever...
06:17 PM, Jun 13, 2013
Jakarta: Young Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth stunned former world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia to storm into the pre-quarterfinals of the Indonesian Super Series Premier on Wednesday. The 20-year-old Indian, who made it to the main draw through the qualifiers, came back from one game down as he won the remaining two in stunning fashion to shock the former world number one and 2004 Athens Olympics gold...
10:12 PM, Jun 12, 2013
Jakarta: Indian shuttlers Ajay Jayaram and RMV Gurusaidutt reached the pre-quarter-finals of the Indonesian Super Series Premier but it turned out to be a bad day in office for world number 10 Parupalli Kashyap as he crashed out of the men's singles competition, here Wednesday. The 26-year-old Kashyap was not in his elements and was completely outclassed by former world number six Sho Sasaki of Japan 7-21, 8-21 in his...
04:42 PM, Jun 12, 2013
Jakarta: Defending champion Saina Nehwal survived a scare in her campaign opener as she struggled past Indonesia's Lindaweni Fanetri in an energy-sapping three game thriller at the Indonesia Super Series Premier here Tuesday. World number two Saina had to play out of her skin against the 14th ranked Fanetri, who posed a huge threat to the Indian before surrendering 17-21, 29-27, 13-21 in an hour and 14 minutes in a...
01:52 PM, Jun 11, 2013
Jakarta: Three-time champion Saina Nehwal will look to fashion a turn around when she returns to her favourite hunting ground at the Indonesian Super Series Premier badminton tournament to defend her women's singles title from Tuesday. The World number two Indian has been going through a lean patch this season. Though she reached the semifinals of the All England and Swiss Open earlier this year, Saina has not been able...
04:37 PM, Jun 10, 2013
Bangkok: K Srikanth became the latest badminton sensation to emerge from India as he lifted his maiden men's singles title with a stunning straight-game triumph over top-seeded local favourite Boonsak Ponsana at the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold here today. The 20-year-old from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, beat world No. 8 Ponsana 21-16, 21-12 in a 34-minute match to script the biggest win of his still nascent career. "When I went...
12:02 PM, Jun 09, 2013
