Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu is likely to miss the All England Championships due to travel disruptions caused by airspace closures in the Gulf region.
Lakshya Sen displayed remarkable mental and physical strength to defeat China's Shi Yu Qi in a thrilling three-game badminton match at the BWF world tour event in Birmingham.
Shi Yuqi will face Lee Chia-hao in the men's singles final at the All England Open Badminton Championships, while Wang Zhiyi will compete against An Se-young in the women's final, after they won their semi-finals on Saturday.
The women's doubles pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly bowed out of the All-England Badminton Championships, losing in the semi-finals, at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, on Saturday. Playing on court No. 6, the Indian duo lost to China's Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu 21-17, 21-16, in 51 minutes.
World Championship bronze medallist shuttler Lakshya Sen advanced to the second round with an easy victory against Denmark's Magnus Johannesen.
It was supposed to be her best chance of winning the coveted title but Saina Nehwal let it slip as she went down in straight games to unseeded Japanese Eriko Hirose in the quarter-finals of the prestigious All England Badminton Championship in Birmingham.
Abhinn Shyam Gupta, Chetan Anand, Nikhil Kanetkar and Aparna lost in the first round.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal overcame a jittery start to defeat spirited Korean Seung Hee Bae and enter the second round of the All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham.
Lin Dan earned his sixth All England badminton title when he routed Chinese teammate Tian Houwei 21-9, 21-10 in the final.
Later, India's challenge came to a crashing halt after the women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost their quarterfinals.
Deepika Padukone was seen enjoying a fun evening in Mumbai, as she dined with husband Ranveer Singh's family and Olympian badminton ace Lakshya Sen.
'When I met Lakshya for the first time, he was very small but now he has grown up.'
Carolina Marin became the first Spaniard to win the All-England badminton championship when she defeated India's Saina Nehwal 16-21, 21-14, 21-7 in Birmingham on Sunday.
'They have been really supportive. Even after the bronze medal match, she called me and said, "It's fine; don't worry. You did good." Prakash sir has been like a mentor and father figure to me. It's always nice to talk to them if I want any advice or want to talk to them freely.'
HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma and Sourabh Verma are the men's singles players who have decided to withdraw while doubles specialists Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy have also opted out. Leading Indian women's singles players PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal - both previous Olympic medallists - are making the trip to England, as are their male counterparts Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth.
World champion Chen Long avoided a potential first-round exit at the All-England Championships on Wednesday and blamed an uncomfortable pillow for a sluggish start to his campaign.
Seasoned Indian ace Saina Nehwal and the fast-rising H S Prannoy notched up contrasting wins in the women's and men's singles competition respectively to reach the All England badminton championships' second round at Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham.
The top-seeded Indian pair lost in straight games against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana of Indonesia in Birmingham on Thursday.
Second seed Taufik Hidayat, Olympic gold medallist in 2004 and world champion the following year, took a first-round tumble at the All England championships in Birmingham on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
On her first visit to any state in the Indian Union after being sworn in as President of the Republic, Rashtrapati Droupadi Murmu was felicitated in Bengaluru by some of that city's luminaries.
India's badminton great Prakash Padukone will receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award this year from the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
When Prakash Padukone won the All England Championships, he was seeded third and had entered the tournament on a high after winning two other competitions.
Padukone's career is also decorated with another big title having clinched the country's first world championship medal after winning the bronze medal in the 1983 championships.
The 19-year-old Indian came up with a splendid display but it was not enough to prevent him doing down 17-21, 21-16, 17-21 after 55 minutes.
India's Lakshya Sen on Thursday progressed to the quarter-finals of the All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham, while HS Prannoy crashed out in the second round.
Srikanth lost to Ireland's unseeded player Nguyen Nhat 11-21, 21-15, 12-21
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, praised Saina Nehwal after the ace Indian female shuttler suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final of the All England badminton championships.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met India's chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand
The sixth seed and world No. 6 Indian needed 42 minutes to get the better of Beiwin Zhang of the United States, ranked eight places below her, 21-14, 21-17.
Sen became only the third men's singles player after Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand to reach the final
India needs people like Rahul Dravid and Pullela Gopichand, who have done an excellent job in producing young talent in their respective disciplines, for tennis to develop in the country, says eight-time Grand Slam doubles champion Leander Paes.
In the absence of top Chinese shuttlers, Indian ace Saina Nehwal has been seeded number one and handed a relatively easy draw in the upcoming Yonex Sunrise Indian Open badminton tournament, scheduled to be held in New Delhi from April 23-28.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal advanced to the semi-finals of the All-England Badminton Championships with a hard-fought victory over sixth seeded Chinese Shixian Wang on Friday. The second seeded Indian ace, who got the better of Belaetrix Manuputi of Indonesia in the previous round, won 23-21, 19-21, 21-16 in 30 minutes.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal advanced to the quarter-finals of the All-England Badminton Championships with a straight games victory over Belaetrix Manuputi of Indonesia, in London, on Thursday night. The world No 2 Indian ace won 21-16, 21-11 in 34 minutes to set up a meeting with sixth seeded Chinese Shixian Wang on Saturday.
India's P V Sindhu came into the semi-final contest with an overwhelming 4-1 head-to-head lead over Thailand's Chochuwong, but wasn't at her best.
Parupalli Kashyap booked a place in the pre-quarter-finals of the All-England Badminton Championships after a straight games victory over Jen Hao Hsu of Chinese Taipei on Thursday. The world No 9 Indian ace won his first round match 21-17, 21-18 in 43 minutes. He now runs into seventh seed Kenichi Tago of Japan.
Former All England badminton champion Prakash Psdukone tells Rediff.com's Bikash Mohapatra that the focus ahead of the next Olympics should be on winning gold, and not just medals and there should be more support to athletes at the grasroots level.
The Bollywood star takes tips from the athlete she will play in Amole Gupte's biopic.
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