Badminton

NEW DELHI: Indian badminton ace PV Sindhu awaits a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after she became the country’s first woman to win two individual Olympic medals. "GOAT - Grittiest Of All Time", the Indian Express front page read on Monday (Aug 2), riffing off Greatest Of All Time after Sindhu beat China's He Bingjiao in Tokyo and swooped a bronze medal. The world champion's victory on Sunday came five years after she finished second at the Rio Games. Sindhu’s father PV

TOKYO, July 23 - Tokyo's Musashino Forest Sport Plaza is a familiar venue for India's P.V. Sindhu - it's where she made it to the quarter-finals of the 2019 Japan Open, dancing to the deafening cheers and chants of spectators. But on Sunday, when the reigning women's singles world champion plays Israel's Ksenia Polikarpova, most of the seats at the stadium that can hold 7,200 people will be empty. "I'm going to miss the spectators, the crowd. The way the crowd motivates the

BEIJING: China's Olympic gold medallists Zhang Ning, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng have been inducted into the Badminton World Federation's Hall of Fame, the sport's governing body said on Wednesday (Jun 2). Zhang won gold in the women's singles at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and was crowned world champion in 2003. Cai and Fu are the only men's doubles pair to have won four world titles. They also won Olympic gold at London in 2012. BWF President Poul-Erik Hoyer said the trio

Badminton’s scoring system remains unchanged as an attempt to replace the existing three-game format of 21 points each with a best-of-five of 11 points on Saturday failed to get the required two-thirds majority during the Annual General Meeting of the sport’s global body. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) member nations voted on the proposal to amend the laws of the sport relating to the scoring system during the body’s 82nd AGM that was held virtually. The proposal put forward by the Indonesian Badminton Association and the

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Open Badminton tournament will be cancelled, it was announced by organisers Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) and the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Wednesday (May 12). The tournament, which was due to be held from Jun 1 to 6, will not be rescheduled. In a joint statement, the SBA and BWF said that the decision was made on the grounds of health and safety. "All attempts were made by the organisers and BWF to provide a safe tournament environment for all

The India Open Super 500 tournament, one of the last three qualifying events for the Tokyo Olympics, was on Monday postponed due to raging COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The USD 400,000 India Open was scheduled to be held behind closed doors in the national capital from May 11 to 16. "Considering the current challenges, BAI is left with no option but to announce the postponement of the tournament for the time being," Badminton Association of India (BAI) general secretary Ajay Singhania said

Roger Federer initially eyed a return at last month’s Australian Open but slow progress in his recovery convinced him to skip the Grand Slam and he said he would play in events which would help him regain his fitness before Wimbledon.  Roger Federer’s hopes of winning a fourth title in Qatar were dashed after Wednesday’s quarterfinal exit but the Swiss said his first event after two knee surgeries was just a ‘stepping stone’ as he targeted full fitness for the grasscourt season.  Federer took the

On Thursday, Roberto BautistaAgut beat defending champion Dominic Thiem 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-4 to keep his dreams of winning the Qatar ExxonMobil Open alive. At 2-2 in the decider, the 2019 champion brought his groundstrokes down the line and charged the net to take the contest's decisive break. The win improved Bautista Agut's ATP Head2Head record against the World No. 4 to 4-1. At the ATP 250, Bautista Agut now has an 8-1 record. In the championship match, the Spaniard will meet the Russian

PV Sindhu looked in real danger of missing out on the BWF World Tour Finals for the first time in five years before a quarterfinal appearance at the Toyota Thailand Open combined with a slice of good fortune helped her sneak into the traditional year-end tournament. Sindhu was only ranked 10th in the World Tour rankings but Nozomi Okuhara's inability to participate and the rule allowing only two maximum entries from each nation helped Sindhu make the cut as the eighth and final

The Badminton Association of India informed that the entire team which participated in the Thailand Open will undergo the mandatory Covid-19 test on Monday. The BAI reduced Kidambi Srikanth's mandatory quarantine from 14 days to a week. Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth resumed his training on Sunday after the Badminton Association of India (BAI) reduced his mandatory quarantine to a week. BAI informed that the entire team which participated in the Thailand Open will undergo the mandatory Covid-19 test on Monday. "#BAI has ensured @srikidambi's mandatory quarantine of

Doha: New Vision Badminton Sport (NVBS) trainee Rajatraj Ramesan showed off his athletic prowess by clinching gold in the QRS Spring Series 2020 in the Under15 category in Doha on Friday. The 14-year-old topped the 3k race with a time of 11:19.6 pushing Gullanam Alinier to the second spot Gullanam finished with a time of 11:50.2. In the last race of the QRS Spring Series 2020, Rajatraj had finished second. His Badminton coach Manoj Sahibjan attributed his success in athletics to his dedication,

New Vision Badminton Sport (NVBS) players have secured a place among winners in QRS Spring Series 2020 in the Under 15 Juniors category. In QRS (Qatar Running Series) Spring Series 2020, held on 30th October 2020 at Aspire Park, Doha Qatar. Rajat Raj age 14 years from NVBS has secured second place in Under 15 Junior (3 Kilometers) by completing the race in 11.04 minutes. Akshith Saravanan has secured first place in Under 15 Junior (3 Kilometers) who completed race in 10.58.9 minutes. Among

One of India’s finest exponents of the art of doubles Badminton in India, Ashwini Ponappa, believes that players should be quick to adapt to changes to enjoy a lengthy career at the highest level.  Speaking with the captain of the Indian football team Sunil Chhetri in an Instagram Live session, the Bengaluru shuttler said: “I think (as a doubles player) can't have a mindset like 'I can only have one partner and that's going to work'.”  “In partnerships, there are phases where you are

Badminton will be back in action “as soon as possible” after the coronavirus crisis, the sport’s chief told AFP, adding that international travel restrictions were complicating the picture. Badminton, like tennis, golf and other sports with an international circuit, faces major hurdles after countries introduced an array of travel bans and quarantine periods to combat COVID-19. Thomas Lund, secretary general of the Badminton World Federation, said an announcement on a rejigged 2020 calendar was expected soon. But he cautioned that the situation remained

Multiple sclerosis sufferer Mary Wilson fears the coronavirus pandemic could have robbed her of her dream to play Badminton at the Paralympics. Wilson, who hoped to qualify for Tokyo 2020, says if she does make it to Japan next year it will “be the biggest thing ever” but she recognizes time may not be on her side. The 56-year-old Scot has faced -- and overcome -- some astonishing challenges since being diagnosed with MS, a chronic neurological condition, in 2004. She survived an

he Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced on Friday that the World Championships in 2021 is being moved from August to later in the year. The prestigious tournament is now scheduled to be held from November 29 to December 5 at the Carolina Marin Stadium in Huelva, Spain. The World Championships was scheduled to be held in August but it has now been postponed due to the delay in the Tokyo Olympics. The Games were postponed to 2021 due to the outbreak of the

Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced PV Sindhu as one of the ambassadors for its ‘I am Badminton’ awareness campaign. The announcement was made on April 22, 2020. The campaign will provide a platform for players to express their love and respect for the game by promoting clean and honest play. BWF stated in a release that concerted efforts will raise awareness across the entire Badminton landscape as well as encourage players all over the world to be a participant in shaping the integrity

Stretching Saina Nehwal in a match is not everyone's cup of tea, particularly in India. Vaishnavi Bhale was the only city shuttler who kept Saina on her toes when they clashed in the women's singles semifinals at the Senior National Badminton Championship at Guwahati in February, 2019. Although, Vaishnavi lost 15-21, 14-21, she won hearts for putting up a gutsy 35-minute fight against the eventual champion.The impressive display not only helped Vaishnavi burst into the limelight but also forced many to take notice of her extraordinary talent. The Indian

There comes the odd, rare occasion when a journalist stares blankly at either his writing pad or his computer screen, and wonders how to tackle the subject at hand. Not because of a shortage of background data, but because of a huge surfeit of material at hand. As also a close personal connect. It is this maelstrom of emotions that invades my psyche as I sit down to write the final profile in this series, on the living legend that is Prakash Padukone.

So much has been written in recent times about Dronacharya Award-winning Badminton coach Pullela Gopichand that readers may question the necessity of presenting a profile in this series of the mentor whose Badminton nursery catapulted Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth to the giddy heights of the World No 1 position, and PV Sindhu to the World Championship gold medal. Every Indian Badminton enthusiast is also aware that Gopi (as he is known to all and sundry) is one of only two players –