New Delhi: The newly formed Indian women's doubles team featuring Ashwini Ponnappa and Pradnya Gadre defeated England's pair of Lauren Smith and Gabrielle White 19-21, 22-20, 21-11 to enter the second round of India Open here on Wednesday. In another match, Jwala Gutta and Prajakta Sawant lost to Misato Aratama and Megumi Taruno of Japan 19-21, 10-21 to crash out of the event. Ponnappa and Gadre made some unforced errors...
03:49 PM, Apr 24, 2013
Noida: Ace Indian shuttler Jwala Gutta on Tuesday said she has no plans of going back to her old-time doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa for now and will stick with Mumbai's Prajakta Sawant. Jwala and Ashwini last played together at the London Olympics after which the former took a sabbatical from the sport while Ashwini went on to partner Pradnya Gadre. "Currently I have no plans of changing any partner. For...
09:06 PM, Apr 23, 2013
New Delhi: Four-time national champion Chetan Anand led the Indian bandwagon into the main draw of the India Open Super Series badminton tournament on the qualifying day at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here today. Besides Chetan, the other three male shuttlers to have moved into the main draw are Subhankar Dey, Arvind Bhat and HS Prannoy. The women's singles qualifying round also saw all four Indians making it to...
08:19 PM, Apr 23, 2013
New Delhi: Chaos ruled the roost on the opening day of the India Open Super Series Badminton at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here as those who made it to the venue were greeted by the absence of basic facilities. Confusion regarding the parking facilities with no car stickers available kept the spectators away from the venue. A tournament official said that the police are not allowing the vehicles inside...
08:15 PM, Apr 23, 2013
World number two woman shuttler Saina Nehwal is the top seed at the Yonex Sunrise India Open, and in the absence of Chinese players, she is eager to put her best foot forward at the BWF Super Series tournament to be held in Delhi from April 23 to 28. ...
08:20 PM, Apr 22, 2013
New Delhi: Unfazed by the tough draw that awaits him, ace Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap says he would look to take one match at a time at his happy hunting ground when the India Open Super Series commences here on Tuesday. Seeded fifth in the tournament, Kashyap will be facing former Olympic and world champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the very first round. If the Indian Olympian manages to...
04:54 PM, Apr 22, 2013
New Delhi: India will for the first time host badminton's two premier events, the Thomas and the Uber Cup finals, later this year. Badminton Association of India (BAI) president Akhilesh Das Gupta on Monday said "it is a proud moment for Indian badminton". "I take great pleasure in announcing it to the media that the Thomas Cup and the Uber Cup will be held in India for the first time...
04:39 PM, Apr 22, 2013
New Delhi: With badminton gaining popularity in the country after the success of players like Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap, national coach Pullela Gopichand is not a satisfied man and wants them to be more consistent. "Guru Saidutt, Ajay Jayaram and Kashyap need to be more consistent at the top as players from Indonesia and Chinese Taipei are catching up and also doing well. Moreover, they have to handle pressure...
04:11 PM, Apr 22, 2013
New Delhi: World number two woman shuttler Saina Nehwal is the top seed at the Yonex Sunrise India Open, and in the absence of Chinese players, she is eager to put her best foot forward trying to emulate her 2010 success at the BWF Super Series tournament to be held in Delhi from April 23 to 28. Talking at the pre-tournament press conference, Saina sounded upbeat ahead of the tournament...
04:02 PM, Apr 22, 2013
New Delhi: Badminton buffs have been waiting for a mouthwatering marquee clash between Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu. The two Indians could possibly face off for the first time if both go through to the quarter-finals at the India Open here next week. Pusarla Venkata Sindhu, to give her full name, is excited at the prospect of playing the World No.2 but she doesn't want to think that far ahead....
06:34 PM, Apr 21, 2013
Taipei: India's campaign at the Badminton Asia Championships came to an end here on Friday after rising shuttler P.V. Sindhu lost in the women's singles quarter-finals to Japanese seventh seed Eriko Hirose in three games. After beating former World No.1 Shixian Wang in the previous round on Thursday at the Taipei Arena, the 17-year-old Indian looked in top form in the first two games but ran out of steam by...
12:59 PM, Apr 19, 2013
New Delhi: World No.1 shuttler Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia is aiming to reclaim his title at the forthcoming India Open which he won in 2011. The two-time Olympic silver medallist said he is excited about playing the Indian leg of the BWF World Super Series starting here at the Siri Fort Complex from April 23 to 28. "I'm training extra for India Open and hoping to win the tournament....
05:12 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Taipei: Rising Indian shuttler PV Sindhu added another feather to her cap after defeating former World No.1 Shixian Wang of China at the Badminton Asia Championships here on Thursday. In the process, the 17-year-old progressed to the women's singles quarter-finals of the continental event. It took Sindhu a marathon effort to beat the third seeded Chinese 15-21, 21-14, 22-20 in their first ever encounter which lasted one hour and two...
04:20 PM, Apr 18, 2013
New Delhi: World No.2 Saina Nehwal retained her place in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) women's singles rankings released on Thursday. City-mate P.V. Sindhu currently playing in the Badminton Asia Championships in Taipei also kept her 16th place. London Olympics quarter-finalist Parupalli Kashyap, Mumbai's Ajay Jayaram and Sourabh Verma also retained their positions in the men's singles rankings. While Kashyap is at a career-best No.7, Jayaram and Verma are...
04:18 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Kuala Lumpur: Badminton is set to follow tennis and football by introducing technology to review disputed line-calls, officials said on Wednesday in an attempt to ease one of the sport's major flash-points. A test set-up will be used at next month's Sudirman Cup in Malaysia before the new system goes live at the Indonesian Open in September, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said in a statement. "What we are doing...
06:30 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Taipei: London Olympics quarter-finalist Parupalli Kashyap and rising Indian woman shuttler PV Sindhu won their respective first round matches in the men's and women's singles event in the Badminton Asia Championship here on Wednesday. Seeded fourth at the tournament, Kashyap came from a game down to beat Ji Hoon Hong of South Korea 18-21, 21-15, 22-20. He took an hour and nine minutes to complete the job. The world No.7...
05:50 PM, Apr 17, 2013
New Delhi: Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal is upbeat about her prospects in the India Open Super Series but added that the tournament draw is tough and winning won't be easy. A total of 220 players from 18 nations will be aiming to win the $200,000 tier-two tournament to be held at the Siri Fort Complex April 23-28. "Every tournament is tough. This one is a Super Series event and all...
05:25 PM, Apr 15, 2013
Auckland: Japanese shuttler Riichi Takeshita and Deng Xuan of China won the men's and women's singles titles, respectively, at the New Zealand Open Grand Prix here on Sunday. Eleventh seed Takeshita beat Xue Song of China 21-16, 16-21, 21-17 in one hour and two minutes at the North Shore Events Centre. Among the women, Song's third seeded compatriot Deng overcame unseeded Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in a marathon battle which...
07:05 PM, Apr 14, 2013
Auckland: India's campaign at the New Zealand Badminton Open ended on Friday after Ajay Jayaram and Arvind Bhat lost their respective quarter-final matches of the men's singles event here. While Jayaram, seeded third, retired from his quarter-final tie to hand over qualifier Xue Song of China a place in the last four stage of the tournament, Bhat went down tamely to second seed Jen Hao Hsu of Chinese Taipei. Having...
05:51 PM, Apr 12, 2013
New Delhi: London Olympics quarter-finalist Parupalli Kashyap jumped to a career-best ranking of World No.7 in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released on Thursday. The Hyderabadi jumped a place, overtaking Chinese Chen Jin, to be in the top-7 in the men's singles rankings while Mumbai's Ajay Jayaram retained his ranking of 30th. In the women's singles, Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal also kept her No.2 position behind Olympic champion...
04:29 PM, Apr 11, 2013
