Badminton

Football, boxing, badminton, kho kho and kabaddi are finding sponsors too, finds GroupM report

India beat UAE 5-0 as Lakshya Sen, Aakarshi Kashyap, and India's three doubles teams played too strong for hosts in the second tie of Group B at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in Dubai

Completely recovered from a stress fracture on the left foot that kept her away from the circuit for five months, a fit-again Indian shuttler PV Sindhu is confident and sounding positive ahead of the ongoing season. Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, said her injury has "completely healed" and is aiming to go full throttle this year. Sindhu was sidelined with injury after winning the Commonwealth Games women's singles gold in Birmingham in August and made a comeback at the year's first event -- Petronas Malaysia Open 2023 -- where she lost a three-gamer in the opening round to Carolina Marin of Spain. Sindhu made another first-round exit a week later at the India Open at home, but said she was "happy with my footwork, skills and strokes" on her return to competitive action in Kuala Lumpur. "I'm completely alright now. Physically and mentally I'm completely fine. Injuries happen but it's important to keep your body healthy and come back stronger every time. I am confident, positi

The country's top shuttlers, including reigning champion Lakshya Sen and double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, will look to keep their date with destiny in India Open Super 750

Indian shuttlers Unnati Hooda, Gnana Dattu, Anish Thoppani and two doubles pairs marched into the semifinals to assure the country of five medals at the Badminton Asia U-17 & U-15 Junior Championships 2022 in Nonthaburi, Thailand on Friday.

Suffering from a throat infection, star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen has withdrawn from the upcoming Australian Open Super 300 badminton tournament. The 21-year-old from Almora picked up the infection just before the Hylo Open, where he lost in the opening round to Hong Kong's Ng Ka Long Angus in Saarbrucken, Germany. The Australian Open is scheduled to be held from November 15 to 20 in Sydney. "I had fever, throat pain and weakness after I reached Saarbrucken ahead of Hylo Open. I probably picked the infection while travelling from Paris," Sen, who returned to India on Saturday night, told PTI on Sunday. "I thought it is not that serious. I was training last Sunday and then on Monday, I felt it had aggravated. I consulted doctor online and took medicine. It is under control now. But given the situation, I have decided to pull out of Australian Open." The Commonwealth Games champion said the fact that he has no chance of qualifying for the World Tour Finals also played a role in hi

Paralympic champion Pramod Bhagat and promising Manisha Ramadass emerged champions as India finished with a total of 16 medals at the BWF Para Badminton World Championships here on Sunday. Taking the court first, Bhagat defended his men's singles SL3 title in style as he defeated compatriot Nitesh Kumar 21-19 21-19 in 53 minutes to clinch the gold medal. For Ramadass, it was a dream come true moment as she beat local star Mamiko Toyoda 21-15 21-15 in women's singles SU5 finals. Having started playing senior international only in March this year, it was definitely a milestone for the 17-year-old from Chennai, who stayed dominant throughout the match. "This has been the biggest moment of my life. I have waited for this moment and worked hard for the past few months for this. It feels awesome to be the world champion. I hope I can continue with such result and make my country proud in future events," said Ramadass. Bhagat now has 11 medals, including six gold, two silver and three br

Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth beat Commonwealth Games champion and compatriot Lakshya Sen in the opening round of the French Open 2022 BWF Super 750 tournament men's singles event

Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen suffered a straight game loss to Japan's Kodai Naraoka in the men's singles quarterfinal to bring down curtains on India's campaign at the Denmark Open Super 750 tournament here. Sen, a 2021 world championships bronze medallist, lost 17-21 12-21 to Naraoka, a bronze medallist at the 2018 Youth Olympics, in a lop-sided contest on Friday night. The two have played thrice in international circuit with the Japanese winning twice. Interestingly, it was Sen, who had defeated him in the 2018 Youth Olympics semifinals, their last meeting. The 21-year-old from Japan, however, proved to be a difficult customer on Friday as he produced a dominating performance to stay ahead for most part of the contest. After opening a 5-2 lead, Naraoka jumped to a 13-9 advantage at one stage. Sen had grabbed a slender 15-14 lead but the Japanese quickly moved ahead to earn the bragging rights. Things went further downhill for Sen in the second game as Naraoka led 5-1

Indian athletes medal-winning streak is prompting young people to train for competitive events

Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in the second round to make an early exit from the Japan Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Wednesday. The 21-year-old from Almora, a 2021 world championships bronze medallist, went down 21-18 14-21 13-21 to world number 21 Nishimoto in a men's singles match that lasted an hour and six minutes. It was his first defeat to the Japanese in two meetings. Fast-rising men's doubles pairing of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, who jumped nine places to reach world number 26 after a quarterfinal finish at the World Championships, lost 21-19 21-23 15-21 to Korean combination of Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho. Mixed doubles pair of Juhi Dewangan and Venkat Gaurav Prasad lost 11-21 10-21 to Chinese top seed Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong in 23 minutes.

Star Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Reddy and Chirag Shetty assured themselves of a maiden medal at the World Championships after stunning world number 2 Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan in the quarterfinals here on Friday. The world number 7 Indian combination, which had claimed the Commonwealth Games gold medal earlier this month, dished out a gritty performance to outwit the local favourites and defending champions 24-22 15-21 21-14 in an hour and 15 minute to claim India first-ever men's doubles medal at the prestigious tournament. It was India's second World Championships medal in doubles with Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa claiming the first way back in 2011 in the women's doubles. Earlier, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila's fine run came to an end after the Indian pair lost to three-time gold medallists Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in their men's doubles quarterfinals. The unseeded Indian combination, who had some sensational wins this week, lost 8-21 14-2

Saina Nehwal proceeds to the round of 32 after winning her first match at BWF World Championship 2022. Gayatri Gopichand and Jolly Treesa win against Low Yeen Yuan and Valeree Siow

After an excellent performance at Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Indian badminton players have sent a strong message to their opponents that India can do wonders at the 2024 Paris Olympics

The athletes showed that India can look beyond Shooting. India, with 61 medals including 22 gold at Birmingham 2022 surprised all by winning in events where not even the ardent fans believed it could

At the Gold Coast, India's medals came from eight different sports, four fewer than this time

Sindhu once again kept her date with history in Birmingham with an elusive title, Lakshya's maiden gold on debut underlined his emergence as the Most Valuable Player amongst male in the current era

With the 0-7 hammering of the men's hockey team by Australia, when at least a spirited fight was anticipated, the Games ended on a somewhat disappointing note.

India finishes their campaign at 4th spot with 61 medals. While India Men's Hockey team lost to Australia, PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and Chirag Shetty-Sairaj Satwik Rankireddy bags gold for India.

They also became the first Indian pair to claim the gold medal in men's doubles category at the Commonwealth Games.