Badminton Financial News

Olympic medalist and ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu suffered a first-round defeat in the Indonesia Open 2024 in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Indian shuttler and two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu conceded a defeat in the final match of the Malaysia Masters competition against China's Wang Zhiyi on Sunday. The Indian shuttler lost to her Chinese opponent 21-16, 5-21, and 16-21 in the final match of the women's singles. Sindhu started the final game on a good note and dominated the first set as she won it by 21-16. In the second set, the Chinese made a comeback in the game and didn't give Sindhu a chance to clinch points. Zhiyi won the second set by 5-21. In the final set, Zhiyi had the last laugh of the game as she beat Sindhu by 16-21.

PV Sindhu's wait for a much-needed title extended further as she faltered in the finishing line, going down in three games to world no. 7 Wang Zhi Yi of China in the summit clash on Sunday. Fifth seed Sindhu, a double Olympic medallist, last won the Singapore Open and Commonwealth Games in 2022 and finished runner-up at the Madrid Spain Masters in 2023. The title here looked within her reach when world no. 15 Sindhu held a massive 11-3 lead in the decider after winning the opening game but the former world champion imploded after the final change of sides to go down 21-16 5-21 16-21 in a 79-minute women's singles final. The title would have been an icing on the cake but her impressive run to the final will still give her a lot of confidence as Sindhu looks to put the finishing touches ahead of the Paris Olympics. It was her first final on BWF world tour after more than a year.

Lounge. Ponnappa shot into fame as a rookie shuttler when she won the women’s doubles at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010. Since then, she has made advancements in her career including making it to the London (2012) and Rio Olympics (2016) and picking up several medals along the way.

Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty received a major boost ahead of the Paris Olympics as they secured the men's doubles title at the Thailand Open Super 500 badminton tournament with a straight-game win over Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi of China here on Sunday. In the form of their lives, Satwik and Chirag, the world number three pair prevailed 21-15 21-15 over Liu and Chen, ranked 29th, for their ninth BWF world tour title. It was also the second title of the season for the Asian Games champions following their triumph at the French Open Super 750 in March. They had also finished runners-up at Malaysia Super 1000 and India Super 750. "Bangkok has always been special for us, we won our first Super Series title back in 2019 here and also the Thomas cup, so it has been a special place and so happy to be here," Chirag said after the win.

Taapsee Pannu has finally confirmed her marriage to Danish badminton player Mathias Boe. In an interview with the Hindustan Times, the ‘Haseen Dilruba’ actress admitted that she tied the knot with Boe in Udaipur, but also maintained that she did not share pictures as she wanted the wedding to be a private affair. The ‘Dunki’ actress was asked if she planning to share candid pictures and behind-the-scenes of the event, to which she replied that she was not ready to expose her personal life and the people associated with it, to public scrutiny. “I just am not very sure if I want to let my personal life and the people involved in it, to go through the kind of scrutiny that happens when a public figure gets married. It’s me who has signed up for this, not my partner, not the people who were involved in the wedding. I am not sure about how I feel about it being out there, that’s why I’ve kept it to myself,” she told HT. “I have no plans for a release of any kind. In the future, if I get comfortable sharing about it (wedding details), we will figure out how, what, and when I want to release something if at all..” she added. The actress also clarified that she never intended to keep the wedding a secret. “The people who are genuinely close to me were a part of the celebration and always knew about my relationship and my intentions about when and how I want to get married,” she said.

Shamanur Shivashankarappa has sparked controversy with a sexist remark directed at the BJP's candidate from the constituency, Gayathri Siddeshwara. He stated that she is only “fit to cook," implying that her abilities are limited to domestic tasks.

French Open badminton crown for the second time with a dominating straight game win over Chinese Taipei's Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan in the men's doubles final here on Sunday. The world No. 1 Indian pair had finished runners-up in the French Open in 2019 before winning the title in 2022. On Sunday, the Asian Games champions outwitted Lee and Yang 21-11 21-17 in 37 minutes to regain the Super 750 tournament title and also win their first crown of the season after reaching the summit clash for the third time in 2023. The Indian duo had finished second best at Malaysia Super 1000, India Super 750 this year, while signing off as runners-up at China Masters Super 750 as well last year.

Pullela Gopichand is to be believed, they are India’s best bet for a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. “If they play one notch below their best, even then they should win the gold. They are that good,” the badminton national head coach said about the Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who are in red hot form and have yet again proved it at the French Open Super 750 in Paris. The duo talks with BORIA MAJUMDAR about the importance of the ongoing tournament, how it will help them prepare for the Olympics, their chances and more. Excerpts: How much does it help that the ongoing tournament is at the venue that will be used for the Olympics? Chirag: It will help a lot. You get yourself familiar with things and given that we haven’t played in this venue, it is of serious help because we will now know what to expect come the Olympics. It is always about preparation and to be well prepared we need to know as much of what we might encounter as possible. Playing this tournament in the same venue is the kind of perfect preparation we need. The more you win, the more pressure it will bring during the Olympics. You have started the year in a stellar fashion. Multiple semi-finals and finals already.

B Sai Praneeth on Monday announced his retirement from international badminton, bringing down curtains on a successful career during which he won the Singapore Open and also represented India at the Tokyo Olympics. The 31-year-old from Hyderabad decided to hang his boost after battling nagging injuries since the Tokyo Games. «With a mix of emotions, I pen down these words to bid farewell and announce my retirement from the sport that has been my lifeblood for over 24 years,» he posted on his Instagram account. «Today, as I embark on a new chapter, I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude for the journey that brought me here.

Manish Sisodia, who completed one year in jail on Monday, spends most of his time inside his cell reading books from the library, playing badminton and reading the Bhagvad Gita, a Tihar jail official said. Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy scam on February 26, 2023. He was later arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also in the case and then sent to the Tihar jail. Sisodia is presently lodged in Tihar jail number 1, where he stays in his separate cell shared with two more inmates, who are lodged in non-heinous cases, official sources said. Tihar has 16 jails. All the cells, wards and barracks in the jails are heavily mounted with CCTV cameras installed by the prison authorities.

China's men's team were crowned winners of the Badminton Asia Team Championships after they dispatched Malaysia 3-0 in a one-sided final Sunday. India ousted Thailand 3-2 to claim the women's title. China came without their top superstars, such as Shi Yu Qi and Li Shi Feng, who are ranked among the world's top three men's singles and second-ranked men's doubles pair Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang.

Indian women beat Thailand 3-2 in a thrilling final to clinch their maiden gold medal at the Badminton Asia Team Championships here on Sunday. The young and sprightly group of Indian women's team, led by PV Sindhu, defied all expectations as it rose to the occasion to come up trumps against two-time bronze medallists Thailand. It, however, needs to be mentioned that like most of the teams in the competition, Thailand were not at full strength. They were without their top two singles players — world No. 13 Ratchanok Intanon and world No. 16 Pornpawee Chochuwong. Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who is returning to action after a four-month injury-forced break, was back to her aggressive best as rode on her power and placement to outclass world no 17 Supanida Katethong 21-12 21-12 in the first singles and hand India a 1-0 lead.

Malaysia for her comeback tournament. PV Sindhu was silently confident about her return to competitive badminton having put in the hard yards all of January 2024. For any sportsperson, a comeback from injury is always the most difficult challenge of all.

Anmol Kharb is a fearless and intelligent player and her emergence is refreshing for Indian badminton, gushed chief National coach Pullela Gopichand after the teenager's impressive show at the Asia Team Championships. The 17-year-old from Faridabad humbled world number 29 Natsuki Nidaira in the deciding fifth match against Japan, a win that carried India into first-ever final in the prestigious tournament. Anmol, who won the senior national champion in December 2023, had also notched up a thrilling three-game win over China's Wu Luo Yu on Wednesday in their group match. This is her first major international assignment.

Olympic medal hopes from badminton have always been resting on the shoulders of its women players. They were, expectedly, realised too. Saina Nehwal brought home the first one in 2012 and Sindhu two, in 2016 and 2020 respectively.

Track the Asian Games LIVE medal tally here.India's Neeraj crashed to a 3-5 defeat vs Uzbek Makhmud Bakhshilloev in the men's greco-roman 67kg 1/8 final. In Wrestling, India have Neeraj facing Uzbek Makhmud Bakhshilloev in the men's greco-roman 67kg 1/8 final.India win bronze medal in 35km race walk mixed team event at Asian Games.Indian archers Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Ojas Deotale held their nerves to beat Malaysia 158-155 and advance into the compound mixed team semifinals at the Asian Games here on Wednesday.Standing one win away from a medal, the top-seeded India will next take on fourth-seed Kazakhstan in the semifinals later in the day.

Indian team suffered a 0-3 defeat against a formidable Malaysian side in the quarter-finals of Badminton World Junior Championships in Spokane, USA on Friday. In the mixed doubles category, Sathwik Reddy Kanapuram and Vaishnavi Khadkekar fought valiantly but lost the first match of the tie 12-21 16-21 against Bryan Jeremy Goonting and Chan Wen Tse. Ayush Shetty kept the team's hopes alive with a spectacular comeback in the boys' singles match.

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Grand Prix Badminton League (GPBL) on Saturday was postponed indefinitely after several players pulled out of the event, said League Commissioner Prasanth Reddy here. Reddy said the players were forced to withdraw from the GPBL, which was scheduled to begin on Sunday, after the Badminton Association of India (BAI) did not give necessary permission to run the league. «Our attempts to reach out to BAI thus far have proved futile.