Shanghai: Fourth seed Saina Nehwal made a shock first-round exit from the China Open as the Indian challenge ended in the singles events of the prestigious badminton tournament on Wednesday. Saina made a strong start by winning the first game but went on to lose 21-15- 22-24 15-21 to Korean Youn Joo Bae in the women's singles match after battling for one hour and one minute. There is no Indian...
06:58:15 PM Nov 23, 2011
Hong Kong: Saina Nehwal bowed out of the Hong Kong Open Super Series after losing to Denmark's lower-ranked Tine Baun 16-21, 15-21 in the women's singles quarterfinals on Friday. Two-time All England champion Baun, seeded seventh, took just 29 minutes to beat fourth-seeded Saina. There was nothing much to separate the two in net and smash winners but the Dane won more rallies, which made the difference. The first game...
07:14:54 PM Nov 18, 2011
New Delhi: Defending champion Saina Nehwal reached the quarter-finals without breaking much sweat but it was RMV Gurusaidutt who made heads turn on Thursday as he stunned world No. 9 Pengyu Du of China in a thrilling three-game match in the Hong Kong Super Series. A day after Ajay Jayaram sent packing world No. 6 Sho Sasaki of Japan, Gurusaidutt, who had to qualify to the tournament, emulated his team-mate...
10:40:26 PM Nov 17, 2011
Hong Kong: Saina Nehwal moved into the second round of the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open badminton tournament with a 21-4, 21-17 win over Tsz Ka Chan (Hong Kong) on Wednesday. Fourth-seeded Saina will next take on Jie Yao of the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Ajay Jayaram, who reached the last 16 at the World Championships stunned world No. 6 Sho Sasaki in his opening match of the men's singles event. Jayaram,...
08:06:00 PM Nov 16, 2011
New Delhi: India's women's doubles player Jwala Gutta reckons qualifying for next year's Olympics is a realistic dream, but she does not want to put pressure on her young partner Ashwini Ponnappa by thinking about the London event right now. One half of the World Championships bronze-medalist pair, Jwala said she is very satisfied with the way the year has panned out for her, and that her focus was now...
11:46:12 PM Nov 15, 2011
New Delhi: India's men's singles players Arvind Bhat and RMV Gurusaidutt made the main draw of the Hong Kong Super Series after notching up contrasting wins in the qualifiers on Tuesday. Two-time National Champion Arvind beat Yun Lung Chan 15-21 21-12 23-21 in the first round, before getting past Ka Long Ng 21-18 12-21 21-18 in the second round. He will next play Tien Chen Chou of Chinese Taipei on...
05:30:59 PM Nov 15, 2011
New Delhi: Saina Nehwal faces the task of overcoming a recent dip in form to defend the crown at the Hong Kong Open, which starts with the qualifiers on Tuesday. Saina had won three Super Series title - Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong - besides winning the Commonwealth Games gold and India Open Grand Prix last year. Come Wednesday, the world number four Saina will take on Hong Kong's Tsz...
12:13:17 AM Nov 15, 2011
New Delhi: Saina Nehwal has set such high standards that even a minor dip in form raises concerns, according to badminton legend Prakash Padukone, who believes the Indian shuttler will soon be back to her winning ways. The first Indian to win the prestigious All England title in 1980, Padukone said Saina needs to find out where she is going wrong and peak at the right time to realise her...
02:28:08 PM Nov 12, 2011
New Delhi: India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal battled her heart out before going down to Xuerui Li of China in straight-games to crash out of the French Open Super Series at Paris on Thursday. It was a disastrous day for India at Paris as Ajay Jayaram and Commonwealth Games gold medallist pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa too suffered defeats to draw curtains on the country's campaign at the...
05:46:13 PM Oct 27, 2011
New Delhi: Indian ace Saina Nehwal started her campaign at the French Open Super Series on a positive note, thrashing Jie Yao of Holland in straight-games to reach the second round of the women's singles event at Paris on Wednesday. Fourth seed Saina beat Jie 21-14 21-9 in just 29 minutes and will take on the winner of the match between Chinese Xuerui Li and Youn Joo Bae of Korea...
04:48:21 PM Oct 26, 2011
New Delhi: Still smarting from her second-round exit in Denmark last week, Saina Nehwal will seek redemption when she starts her campaign at the French Open Super series, which begins with the qualifiers at Paris on Tuesday. Fourth seed Nehwal suffered the ignominy of crashing out of the Denmark Open, when she went down to Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei, and the Indian ace will now have to ensure...
04:35:41 PM Oct 24, 2011
New Delhi: Curtains were drawn on India's campaign at the Denmark Open Super Series after the mixed doubles pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta suffered a humiliating straight-games defeat in the quarter-finals at Odense on Friday. The unseeded Indian pair lost 5-21 7-21 to the third-seeded English combination of Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen in a match that lasted for just 26 minutes. In a lopsided match, Jwala-Diju...
10:46:02 PM Oct 21, 2011
New Delhi: Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal suffered a straight-game defeat against Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei in the second round to crash out of the Denmark Open Super Series at Odense on Thursday. However, Jwala Gutta and V Diju kept India's tri-colour fluttering after notching up a 21-16 21-19 victory over Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier of England in the second round of the mixed doubles category. Fourth...
06:23:58 PM Oct 20, 2011
New Delhi: Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Anand Pawar advanced to the second round of the Denmark Open Super Series after notching up contrasting victories in the opening round of the main draw at Odense on Wednesday. Fourth seed Saina beat Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 21-16 21-8 in a 31-minute clash in the women's singles, while Anand saw off Pablo Abian 21-11 21-12 in the men's singles. World number four...
09:18:22 PM Oct 19, 2011
New Delhi: Indian shuttler Anand Pawar kept his hopes alive of reaching the main draw of Denmark Open Super series but it was all over for compatriot RMV Gurusaidutt at Odense on Tuesday. Pawar defeated Russian Vladimir Ivanov 21-10 21-14 in the opening round and would take on Daren Liew of Malaysia in the second qualifying round of the men's singles. Gurusaidutt, however, lost 18-21 17-21 to Mohammad Arif Abdul...
10:45:55 PM Oct 18, 2011