All posts tagged: Indian badminton news

Ayush Shetty wins silver at Badminton Asia Championships, ends 61-year wait

Ayush Shetty wins silver at Badminton Asia Championships, ends 61-year wait

Published by Webster

Ayush Shetty secured a silver medal at the Badminton Asia Championships 2026, finishing runner-up in the men’s singles event after losing to world champion Shi Yuqi in the final in Ningbo, China, on Sunday. The 20-year-old Indian, ranked world No. 25, went down 21-8, 21-10 in 42 minutes against the second-ranked Chinese shuttler. Despite the defeat, Shetty’s campaign marked a significant milestone, as he became the first Indian in 61 years to win a men’s singles silver at the continental championships. Dinesh Khanna remains the only Indian to have won gold in the event, achieving the feat in 1965. Shetty’s medal is also India’s first in men’s singles at the Asian Championships since HS Prannoy’s bronze in 2018. Shetty’s run to the final included a series of notable victories against higher-ranked opponents. He began by defeating world No. 7 Li Shi Feng and followed it up with a win over Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu Jen. In the quarterfinals, Shetty overcame world No. 4 Jonatan Christie before producing a major upset in the semifinals against world …

‘Sindhu has achieved outstanding success already, but continues to stay on court…truly admirable at this age’ – Chinese All England champ Wang Zhi Yi | Badminton News

‘Sindhu has achieved outstanding success already, but continues to stay on court…truly admirable at this age’ – Chinese All England champ Wang Zhi Yi | Badminton News

Published by Webster

2 min readApr 10, 2026 05:35 PM IST Chinese All England champ Wang Zhi Yi has stolen a 4-3 head to head lead over PV Sindhu after defeating her at the Badminton Asia Championships. But despite the 21-8 scoreline in the second set, Zhi Yi was quick to acknowledge the greatness of the Indian, who has been denying a bunch of to players World Championships medals since 2013. In a dozen years, Sindhu has beaten 2012 Olympic champion Li Xuerui, Wang Yihan, 2021 Olympic champ Chen Yufei multiple times at the World Championships as well as denying He Bingjiao the Tokyo Olympic medal. She extended her streak to 12 years when she beat World No 2 Zhi Yi last year at Copenhagen. And the World No 12 continues to keep going at the world stage, a fact acknowledged by her Chinese opponents. “Sindhu is a highly accomplished veteran. For a female athlete at her age still competing at this level is truly admirable. She has already achieved outstanding success. And won many major titles. Yet …

Line call blunders in China strike Indian shuttlers: ‘It’s 2026 and I can’t believe Court 2 has no Hawkeye’

Line call blunders in China strike Indian shuttlers: ‘It’s 2026 and I can’t believe Court 2 has no Hawkeye’

Published by Webster

3 min readApr 9, 2026 03:46 PM IST “There’s nothing you can do about it,” coach Sagar Chopda at the Bangalore Centre of Excellence where Ayush Shetty and PV Sindhu train, says, with gnashing teeth. The first three days of the Badminton Asia Championships at Ningbo have been terribly frustrating for Indians, with blithering line calls on several courts inflecting crucial points. On Thursday, HS Prannoy suffered twice in the second set. And though Weng Hong Yang might still have won, the Indian’s propensity to come back in the second set and launch fightbacks from there can’t be ignored.v “It’s 2026 and I still can’t believe there is no Hawkeye’ in court 2 for a Super 1000 event,” Prannoy tweeted. The continental championships where Prannoy has a bronze previously, are a prestigious event, but the Asian events typically end up being amateurish. For one, forget broadcast, even a live stream is hard to find. And for another, event Court 2 with Chinese Weng Hong Yang playing did not have a decision review system or Hawkeye …

‘Sindhu has achieved outstanding success already, but continues to stay on court…truly admirable at this age’ – Chinese All England champ Wang Zhi Yi | Badminton News

Can PV Sindhu repeat her World Championships win over All England champ Wang Zhi Yi? | Badminton News

Published by Webster

2 min readApr 9, 2026 09:18 AM IST It is not secret that Wang Zhi Yi finds the PV Sindhu matchup to be a terrible headache. The tall Indian can simply go ballistic when the fancy takes her, as she did at the World Championships of 2025 to end Zhi Yi’s challenge early. However in January this year, the Chinese World No 2 seemed to have her revenge stopping Sindhu’s stellar run at the Malaysian Open Super 1000. Zhi Yi won 21-16, 21-15 in the semis. She also went on to hunt bigger dragons like An Se-young at the All England. But the Indian – fired up to prove a point after she endured a terrible travel day to All England when she was stuck at Dubai – is out to prove a point. At 30, it is plainly clear that Sindhu’s best chances of getting in the big upsets, are at the start of the tournament – in early rounds, when she isn’t exhausted. So a Zhi Yi confrontation this early will only be …

Badminton to test synthetic shuttles at smaller grade and junior tournaments with sustainability aims

Badminton to test synthetic shuttles at smaller grade and junior tournaments with sustainability aims

Published by Webster

3 min readApr 8, 2026 03:07 PM IST Just last year, the falling popularity of duck meat had coincided with badminton shuttlecock manufacturers struggling for raw material to make shuttles. It had led to a twofold rise in prices of certain shuttle stocks. A year on, BWF has clearly brought forward its plans to introduce synthetic shuttles that mimic the look and feel of the feather ones.BWF approved use of synthetic shuttlecocks at selected tournaments. These include synthetics made by VICTOR and YONEX, and will be used at BWF Grade 3 tournaments and Junior International tournaments. The federation said this initiative was part of BWF’s long‑term approach to “evaluating synthetic feather shuttlecocks for potential use at the elite level.” The federation had been working equally with VICTOR, a Taiwanese sporting major and badminton equipment market leader YONEX to assess the quality and performance of synthetic shuttlecocks in higher‑level competitive settings, with a particular focus on ensuring that flight and playing characteristics align with current competition standards. BWF specified the approved products for use during this …

Isharani Baruah gives it a good go in Game 2 against Pitchamon ‘Pink’ Opatniputh, but Thai teen prevails in Orleans Masters semifinal | Badminton News

Isharani Baruah gives it a good go in Game 2 against Pitchamon ‘Pink’ Opatniputh, but Thai teen prevails in Orleans Masters semifinal | Badminton News

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5 min readNew DelhiMar 22, 2026 12:24 AM IST Isharani Baruah would surely have had more fuel in her tank than Pitchamon ‘Pink’ Opatniputh, with the Indian on court for just 28 minutes in her semifinal win against Malvika Bansod while the Thai 19-year-old had to spend 70 minutes against Japan’s Riko Gunji. But in the end, it was the Indian’s fatigue that cost her as she went down 12-21, 21-23 in a 52-minute contest against the 2023 Junior World Champion to mark the end of Indian contention. Opatniputh showed an early glimpse of her talent with a delightful winner at the net for 2-2 – shaping to play a tight spinning net shot, but held the racket a second longer and pushed it over Isharani into the deep forehand corner. Isharani wasn’t quite going all out attack early on, a heavy brace on her left knee perhaps indicating she wasn’t at her 100%. Opatniputh’s movement, however, was all grace in the early exchanges and she opened up a 8-5 lead with an elegant crosscourt …

Ace shuttler PV Sindhu’s honest message to young athletes on studies and sport

Ace shuttler PV Sindhu’s honest message to young athletes on studies and sport

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3 min readMar 18, 2026 05:45 PM IST Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu emphasised the need to have a good education for aspiring athletes, warning that it is too “risky” to ignore academics and focus solely on a sporting career that can end with a single injury. “I have been playing for so many years. At some point of time you have to retire, right? And that’s the truth. You can’t be playing sport when you’re 45 or 50 or 60 at the highest level. And you have to accept that fact, whereas education will always be lifelong with you, and that will always stay with you,” said the two-time Olympic medallist at DPS International, while speaking to educationist Devyani Jaipuria. “Nobody is born with a golden spoon and you have to work hard, whether it is in studies or sports…Studies and sports are equally important. I have done my MBA. So, I know, like, it’s not easy…you go to training in the morning, come back, study, and then you go for evening sessions. Because …

Lakshya Sen after All England Open runner-up finish

Lakshya Sen after All England Open runner-up finish

Published by Webster

The wait for another men’s singles champion at the All England continues but after what Lakshya Sen produced in Birmingham last week, the wait feels shorter than ever. Sen walked away with a runner-up finish, going down 21-15, 22-20 to Lin Chun Yi of Chinese Taipei in Sunday’s final. But the scoreline only tells half the story. The Indian shuttler had spent the better part of five gruelling days on court, grinding through long three-set battles, fighting off cramps and blisters in the semifinals, and still walking out for the final with everything he had left. The week began with what Sen himself described as feeling like a final before the tournament had even truly started a first-round clash against world number one Shi Yuqi. He won. Then came Angus Ng Ka Long, Li Shi Feng, and Victor Lai, each match longer and more physical than the last. “Right from day one, there were long matches,” Sen said while addressing the media in a virtual press interaction facilitated by BAI, “and eventually the muscles got …

Syed Modi International demoted to Super 100 from Super 300 under new BWF reforms | Badminton News

Syed Modi International demoted to Super 100 from Super 300 under new BWF reforms | Badminton News

Published by Webster

3 min readFeb 9, 2026 09:25 PM IST In a denting move for Indian badminton, Syed Modi International Super 300 tournament has been demoted to Super 100 category by Badminton World Federation on Monday while India Open kept it’s 750 status despite multiple controversies in 2026 edition for the 2027-2030 cycle. The change is part of the larger restructuring of the BWF World Tour finals structure with BWF promoting Denmark Open to Super 1000 from Super 750. In the new six tier system of BWF World Tour, BWF World Tour Finals event remains the top event followed by five Super 1000s, five Super 750s, nine Super 500s, eight Super 300s and eight Super 100s. It is notable that this is the first time Super 100s are part of the BWF World Tour and the rankings point earned in these events will be counted towards the qualification for BWF World Tour Finals. A major blow for India A regular fixture in the BWF annual calendar since 2009, Syed Modi International is named after the legendary Indian …

India open campaign with wins in Men’s and Women’s ties

India open campaign with wins in Men’s and Women’s ties

Published by Webster

India made a strong start at the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2026, registering victories in both the men’s and women’s team events on Tuesday. The men’s team clinched a narrow 3-2 win over Singapore, while the defending champion women’s side dominated Myanmar to book an early place in the quarterfinals. In the men’s tie against Singapore, India were pushed to the limit before former world number one Kidambi Srikanth delivered the decisive point. Srikanth won his singles match in straight games against Koh Jia Wei Joel, sealing the contest 3-2 after the teams were locked at 2-2. Earlier in the tie, Lakshya Sen went down in a close three-game match to Loh Kean Yew, giving Singapore an early advantage. India responded through the experienced men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who won convincingly in straight games. Ayush Shetty then put India ahead again with a composed singles win, but Singapore forced a decider by taking the second men’s doubles match. Indian women dominate Myanmar to reach quarters The Indian women’s team, defending …