All posts tagged: Indian badminton team

‘India tried to confuse us… It means we are scaring big teams’ – Frenchman Lanier after Thomas Cup win over India | Badminton News

‘India tried to confuse us… It means we are scaring big teams’ – Frenchman Lanier after Thomas Cup win over India | Badminton News

Published by Webster

3 min readMay 3, 2026 06:00 AM IST It was a straightforward loss of three singles from India to France’s top 3, all ranked in Top 20. But Frenchman Alex Lanier believed it was deep strategy that India was using to confuse France. Thomas Cups can get wild, like that. France ended up evicting Indonesia, Japan and India in succession to become first non-Denmark European team to make Thomas Cup finals since England in 1984. Lanier, World No 10, had prepared and strategised for Ayush Shetty. But India decided to rest Lakshya Sen in first singles. Which meant a very docile Kidambi Srikanth fetched up to play second singles, and was beaten 21-16, 21-18 not before giving the Frenchman a few rallies to ponder over, as his deception cut into the pace and tempo of Lanier. Lanier though reckoned the move was aimed at boggling the French. Sen had rammed his elbow into the floor and suffered an impact shock, besides complaining of blisters. Lanier though thought it was a plan to field Srikanth to …

Thomas and Uber Cup 2026: Indian men and women clubbed with defending champions China | Badminton News

Thomas and Uber Cup 2026: Indian men and women clubbed with defending champions China | Badminton News

Published by Webster

2 min readUpdated: Mar 18, 2026 09:32 PM IST India’s men’s and women’s teams have been handed a decent draw in the group stages of next month’s 2026 Thomas and Uber Cup championships. The prestigious team event will be held in Horsens, Denmark from April 24th to May 3. While the Indian men created history by winning the 2022 edition of the Thomas Cup, the women’s team has won the bronze medal in the 2014 and 2016 editions. The team of 2022 — comprising players like Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty — had defeated 14-time Thomas Cup champions Indonesia to claim their title. Both the Indian teams are seeded eighth in the tournament based on their individual players’ world rankings. Giving India company in Group A will be defending champions and top seeds, China. The 2022 Thomas Cup champions India will be favourites to claim one of the two quarterfinals spots from Group A that also comprises Pan Am champions Canada and Oceania champions Australia. The women’s team, however, …

Taipei Open: Indian Shuttlers eye redemption run

Taipei Open: Indian Shuttlers eye redemption run

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Former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth is hoping to reverse his dip in form as he leads India’s charge at the Taipei Open 2025, beginning Tuesday. Battling injuries and a long spell of inconsistency, Srikanth is currently ranked 61st in the BWF World Rankings. His best performance this year has been a quarter-final finish at the Thailand Masters. Srikanth opens his campaign against S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian, the 2022 World Junior silver medallist. Sankar stunned World No. 2 Anders Antonsen at the Swiss Open earlier this year, and will look to carry that momentum into this clash of experience vs youth. The 2025 Taipei Open, a BWF Super 300 event, is set to take place from May 6 to May 11 at the Taipei Arena in Taipei, Taiwan. The tournament features a total prize pool of USD 240,000 and offers valuable ranking points for players on the BWF World Tour. Indian Squad Indian shuttlers will be participating in various categories throughout the tournament. Men’s Singles: Kidambi Srikanth, S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian, Ayush Shetty, Tharun Mannepalli, …

No wins for PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy as India’s singles concerns grow, but doubles give hope

No wins for PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy as India’s singles concerns grow, but doubles give hope

Published by Webster

India is yet to register a win from the four singles matches they have played at the Sudirman Cup in Xiamen, China. But with wins in women’s doubles (against Denmark), mixed doubles (against Indonesia), both starring Tanisha Crasto, and serious potential shown in men’s doubles by Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi against Indonesia’s Top 10 pair, the state of Indian badminton is evident: a complete rout in singles, with problems running deep, and exciting unheralded times for doubles, where hopes can be pinned on. The 4-1 drubbing by Indonesia, to send India out of quarterfinal contention, can be dissected in many ways, but will uniformly reveal that Indian singles has fallen off the elite perch. PV Sindhu, who is struggling at World No 18, lost to Putri Kusuma Wardani, currently World No 11, with a 21-12, 21-13 scoreline. Her fortunes on a downward spiral, Sindhu’s game has simply not kept pace with all her coaching changes. No coach has managed to counter-balance her diminishing power game – inability to get the smash-kills, with changes …

India fall to Denmark in opener

India fall to Denmark in opener

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India faced a crushing 1-4 defeat against Denmark in their opening Group D encounter of the Sudirman Cup on Sunday. Despite a spirited performance from Tanisha Crasto and Shruti Mishra in women’s doubles, the Indians were thoroughly outplayed in the remaining matches. Denmark grabbed the first win of the tie, winning the mixed doubles match in straight games (21-13, 21-14) against the Indian duo of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto. The Danish pair looked in complete control throughout the match, never allowing the Indians to settle into any rhythm. World No. 3 Anders Antonsen then doubled Denmark’s lead as he outclassed India’s experienced HS Prannoy in straight games (21-15, 21-16) in the men’s singles match. Prannoy, who has been in decent form lately, struggled to counter Antonsen’s relentless attack and precise shot placement, particularly in the second set where he was forming a comeback, leading 11-10 at the interval. The world No. 1 Danish duo of Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen then outclassed the young Indian combination of Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Rethinasabapathi in straight …

Badminton Asia Championship: Frustrating losses for Sindhu, Kiran George and Priyanshu Rajawat | Badminton News

Badminton Asia Championship: Frustrating losses for Sindhu, Kiran George and Priyanshu Rajawat | Badminton News

Published by Webster

Of India’s singles lot at the Badminton Asia Championship, Kiran George probably raised the most hopes. Though PV Sindhu dragged Akane Yamaguchi to three sets at Ningbo, China, and announced her intent to stay on the hamster wheel, till she could sneak out a Top 10 scalp or two and hit the next gear. But frustration was the theme of India’s remaining singles in the Round of 16 as none managed to make the quarterfinals. Indian singles hasn’t really had anything to celebrate since HS Prannoy’s World Championship bronze in 2023 and Lakshya Sen’s Olympic semifinals. But Thursday was particularly aggravating for Indian reactions to routine swatting aside by Top 10 opponents. Prannoy and Lakshya Sen had lost on Day 1. The fight has gone out of Indian singles, and neither Sindhu’s flickering aggression as she struck the shuttle high to push the pace, nor Kiran’s persistent and consistency undone at the finish almost casually by Kunlavut Vitidsarn, offered any hope of things improving for India. The Sudirman Cup incoming storm looks ominous, with the …

India to play Japan in Asian Mixed Team quarters starting 7 a.m | Badminton News

India to play Japan in Asian Mixed Team quarters starting 7 a.m | Badminton News

Published by Webster

India might’ve finished second in Group D of the Badminton Asia Mixed Team championship at Qingdao Conson Sports Centre, after going down 3-2 to Korea that landed them a face off against Japan in the quarterfinals. But they have one eye on the bigger Trophy – the Sudirman Cup later this summer, and might not mind a spot of experimenting, essentially what most teams do at the Asian team events. Missing out on PV Sindhu was forced on them by a hamstring niggle, but shuffling the men’s doubles arsenal – was a choice. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and MR Arjun lost on Thursday to Jin Yong – Na Sung Seung 25-23, 21-14. But splitting the top pair gave Chirag Shetty some rest ahead of what will be a must-win against Japan. Shetty had reunited with his first partner, Arjun, to drub Macau, but was rested on Thursday. “Chirag needed rest and he will be ready for the big quarters tomorrow,” informed BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra. “In fact we thought all of Lakshya, Prannoy and Chirag could do …

Sindhu and Lakshya Sen set to reignite their spark

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The Arctic Open Super 500 tournament, set to kick off in Vantaa, Finland, from October 8 to 13, 2024, will see India’s top shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen leading the Indian contingent. Both athletes are eager to bounce back from their Olympic disappointments in Paris, where neither managed to secure a medal. This tournament offers a fresh opportunity for them to reset their goals and reclaim their form on the international stage. Squad Overview PV Sindhu: Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu has revamped her coaching team after her exit in the round of 16 at the Paris Olympics. She has now teamed up with Indian coach Anup Sridhar and Korean legend Lee Syun Il. Sindhu will look to reclaim her dominance in women’s singles, starting with a challenging opening-round match against Canada’s Michelle Li. Lakshya Sen: After narrowly missing out on a medal in the bronze medal playoff in Paris, Lakshya Sen has spent time at Austria’s Red Bull Arena for physical assessment and recovery. His campaign at the Arctic Open begins with a …

‘…Now I’ll figure out how to win much more’: Malvika Bansod beats Tunjung, Paris Olympics bronze medallist in Badminton | Badminton News

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A computer engineer, who digs anything that’s printed on paper from detective fiction novels to Maths journals, spirituality leaflets to even airplane pamphlets. Nagpur’s 23-year-old Malvika Bansod has also been a deeply driven badminton player, who ended two years of near-misses internationally, to scalp a marquee player – Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, beating the Paris Olympics bronze medallist 26-24, 21-19 in Round 1 at China Open. She would immediately call up home, and ask the result to be relayed to her grandfather who is critically ill and bedridden. A Nagpur University tennis and badminton player himself, he was the reason Malvika was drawn into the sport. “He was in ICU when she played in Japan, and was distracted and worried, which reflected in her loss. As soon as his health improved marginally, Malvika did well in Korea. She’s very close to him, because when he could, in better health, he watched every match she played, even if we didn’t,” mother Trupti said of the badminton craze in the joint family. Malvika first came to attention when …

Anmol Kharb interview: On ‘damn good feeling’ of winning Asia team gold, working with Sindhu and Gopichand and more | Badminton News

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In her mind, Anmol Kharb, was merely happy to land an opportunity to play against quality international opposition after Badminton Association of India took the inspired call to pick senior national champions for the Asian Team Championships. But the 17-year-old has returned with a historic gold medal for India who won 3-2 pipping Thailand, and the start of an enduring love for chocolate bubble tea. Like a song of glee ending the despondent Indian women’s singles badminton scene, the miracle kid from Malaysia, speaks about her magical last five days. How does it feel to become India’s fifth rubber specialist and win gold? Anmol Kharb: It’s a damn good feeling. For starters, I played the deciders for India. And helped make the entire medal journey easier for the team. I was happy winning the semifinals, and for the support I got from everyone. With what mindset did you approach the fifth decisive matches against China, Japan and Thailand in the final? Anmol Kharb: It was only about giving my best and there was no pressure …