All posts tagged: Singapore Open

Is PV Sindhu’s game ready for week-in, week-out struggles of the Tour? | Badminton News

Is PV Sindhu’s game ready for week-in, week-out struggles of the Tour? | Badminton News

Published by Webster

That PV Sindhu’s career evolution still gets discussed is a testimony to her blazing desire to fight for the biggest titles, even at age 30. Those who want it badly, mostly can. And she’s no different from a Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Leander Paes, Harmanpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Kaur or Vinesh Phogat, whose stubborn drive to win at an older age gets them to work harder despite all the obstacles of ageing. Internationally, Sindhu has Ratchanok Intanon and Nozomi Okuhara for company, and social media to send out frequent reminders that she’s going nowhere into a sunset. Danish player Tine Baun née Rasmussen, similarly tall and strongly built, won All England titles at a similar age. After returning to the top 10 this week, Sindhu has proven that her endeavours are worth it. If other youngsters fancy qualifying for the LA Olympics, they will need to similarly get into the top 16, or go past Sindhu in the rankings. There’s a bunch of eight or nine capable of achieving it, just like Sindhu joined Saina at …

Satwik-Chirag stub Malaysian upstarts with calm carnage to make Singapore semis

Satwik-Chirag stub Malaysian upstarts with calm carnage to make Singapore semis

Published by Webster

4 min readMay 29, 2026 06:20 PM IST India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are in the curated attack phase of their career, where they don’t take their big smashing abilities for granted, and use it judiciously. While tamping down on Malaysian upstarts Kang Khai Xing and Aaron Tai, the Indian duo who have been forced to adapt and evolve, found other ways to collect points, and get the job done. As such they scored fewer points (94-95), as compared to the highly touted Malaysians, aged 20 & 21 while winning 19-21, 21-17, 21-13, quite comfortably. The gamestyle is also energy-efficient, though even a mellow Satwik can cause enough damage with his soft kills, as much as a menacing one. Chirag has been on a roll since the Thailand Super 500, and except for that one ridiculous dive he put in as if landing on a foam pit, he ensured he was protecting his back and keeping things as unadventurous as possible. Kang-Tai had handed Satwik-Chirag a shock loss at the All England. Aaron Tai, …

Lakshya Sen cops yellow card for throwing racquet in 19-21, 21-15, 15-21 loss

Lakshya Sen cops yellow card for throwing racquet in 19-21, 21-15, 15-21 loss

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2 min readUpdated: May 29, 2026 06:15 PM IST Things got heated on the court for Lakshya Sen as a service fault called for height a second time in his match against Koki Watanabe of Japan, saw him fling the racquet on court in disgust. Things were fast and furious as is, given the Japanese and his intensity tends to be scalding. In the first set of the quarters of the Super 750 at Singapore, Sen had already been faulted once in the opening set as he briefly argued with the chair umpire. Sen’s straight deep smashing had not been enough to offset Watanabe’s brisk angle-changers and quick reactions, as the Indian lost narrowly, with a 21-19 margin. He would receive prolonged instructions from father DK Sen in the break. His last few enforced errors that handed the set to the Japanese might’ve been playing on his mind as he picked the first point. But when his serve was called for height, an enraged Sen chucked the racquet on the floor in the direction of …

Tanisha-Dhruv get the serve to sing, beat Watanabe-Taguchi 8-21, 21-17, 21-16

Tanisha-Dhruv get the serve to sing, beat Watanabe-Taguchi 8-21, 21-17, 21-16

Published by Webster

5 min readMay 28, 2026 03:50 PM IST Jwala Gutta had once said she picked Ashwini Ponappa as a partner – not because of her smashes, which were excellent ofcourse. But due to her serves. Now, Tanisha Crasto hoping to reach Jwala’s heights in mixed doubles (she reached World No 6 with V Diju), is proving why a swell serving game can literally win you matches. To get to match point at the Singapore Open, Tanisha sent forth a bamboozler that confounded none less than Yuta Watanabe – a seemingly benign backhand wobble serve that left the Japanese skill-master confounded. Watanabe is a twice Olympic medallist and four-time World Championships podium finisher, including two silvers at mixed doubles. The Japanese 28-year-old isn’t easily frazzled. The two hooting serves at the end, were just the finishing touches of a firecracker game. Her lari (garland) style of explosive bursts, as she strikes a whisk-like rotating pattern with Dhruv Kapila and goes about creating chances while never giving up, has been one of Indian badminton’s most underrated progressions. …

Sindhu, Satwik-Chirag march into quarters

Sindhu, Satwik-Chirag march into quarters

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Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the quarterfinals of the 2026 Singapore Open Super750 Tournament on Thursday. Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu beat Japan’s Riko Gunji 21-9, 21-12 in just 37 minutes in the women’s singles Round of 16. She will now meet world no. 1 An Se Young in the quarterfinals. In the men’s doubles, fourth seed Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy beat Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan 21-15, 11-21, 21-18. The Indian pair took an hour to wrap up the contest. Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto to progressed to the quarterfinals, defeating Japanese pair Yuta Watanabe and Maya Taguchi in a gruelling three sets of mixed doubles match. The Indian pair prevailed 8-21, 21-17, 21-16 in 58 minutes. In the men’s singles, Lakshya Sen also advanced after his Thai opponent and World no 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn retired at 0-2. Later in the day HS Prannoy will be up against Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew. Disclaimer: We do not own any of …

Prannoy turns table on World No 5 Jonatan Christie for first win over him since 2021

Prannoy turns table on World No 5 Jonatan Christie for first win over him since 2021

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5 min readMay 27, 2026 04:35 PM IST HS Prannoy hadn’t defeated Top 5 regular, Indonesian Jonatan Christie since January of 2021. In fact he had only one win to show from his last 8 matches against the consistent Jojo since 2018. But top players – Jojo is World No 5 currently – have always known how dangerous the 33-year-old Indian can be. On Wednesday he defeated the Indonesian 10-21, 21-12, 21-18 with a typical Prannoying-playbook at the Super 750 Singapore Open. In the Singapore Indoor Stadium which commentators call the ‘Hairdryer arena’ because of its bellicose drift, that maddens the shuttle flight, Prannoy showed what complete, cerebral badminton can be. His ranking hovers close to his age these days, it’s No 35 this week. But the double-medallist from Thomas Cups, who has medals at World Championships, Asian Games, Asian Championships and the Malaysia Masters, took out Christie with a mix of psychological pressure and supreme racquet skills. It tends to get overlooked because Kidambi Srikanth’s game was so elegant and Lakshya Sen’s style is …

PV Sindhu wards off World No 6 Putri Kusuma Wardani with gritty net play in Singapore Open Super 750

PV Sindhu wards off World No 6 Putri Kusuma Wardani with gritty net play in Singapore Open Super 750

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Not making World No 1 – yet – never interfered with Sindhu’s claims to greatness. So, nine years after the 30-year-old reached the pinnacle of her ranking at World No 2, in April of 2017, a clamber back into the Top 10s, can be viewed from two different lenses. The flattering way to see it, is her longevity and drive to stay in the mix, even as a generational transition is stuttering towards permanence in women’s singles. Avenging her loss to Indonesian Putri Kusuma Wardini from last year’s World Championship, Sindhu defeated the 23-year-old 21-17, 21-18 quite comfortably at the Super 750 Singapore Open. It gives her a second chance to cement her place in Top 10 this year after a brief week in March. Besides seedings leading up to World Championships at home, there’s no material edge a Top 10 spot offers. But at this stage of her career, a good seeding at the home event could be make-or-break for Sindhu to avoid top 3 early. These things didn’t use to matter to the …

Singapore Open Super 750: In gutsy loss to World No. 2, lessons in taming drift for young Unnati Hooda | Badminton News

Singapore Open Super 750: In gutsy loss to World No. 2, lessons in taming drift for young Unnati Hooda | Badminton News

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PV Sindhu, in her prime, did a good job of adjusting to the court drift conditions. The sheer discipline and patience needed to master conditions by big names like Kidambi Srikanth, Saina Nehwal or HS Prannoy and Satwik-Chirag are hugely underrated. It is something the new generation, beginning to play elite events, will need to decipher. Unnati Hooda came up against World No 2 Wang Zhi Yi on Wednesday at the Singapore Open Super 750. She was promptly schooled in how the changing winds can completely determine your destiny if you don’t know how to demystify the drift. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO “It was a big lesson for Unnati in how to play in big arenas because the drift helped her a lot at first, and then went against her later. Hopefully she learns with experience by playing repeatedly with the big names,” coach and father Upkar Hooda explained after the 21-13, 9-21, 15-21 loss in the 56-minute defeat to the current top Chinese. Story continues below this ad Zhi Yi is an All England …

Lakshya troubled by back issues, Satwik-Chirag return with solid win & Aakarshi, Unnati nick one set off Chinese top names

Lakshya troubled by back issues, Satwik-Chirag return with solid win & Aakarshi, Unnati nick one set off Chinese top names

Published by Webster

A persistent lower back issue is making Lakshya Sen’s outings at the top level of competition a stop-start affair. On Wednesday at the Singapore Open Super 750, India’s top men’s singles shuttler was again forced to end his stay after the troublesome back flared up. Playing the turbo-charged Taiwanese Lin Chun-Yi, Sen did well to take the opener 21-15 and even caught up at 17-17 from 12-15 down in the second. But he needed repeated medical treatment requests and simply couldn’t continue leading to yet another Round 1 exit, this time from mid-match retirement. He trailed 21-15,17-21, 13-5 with severely restricted movement. “Lakshya had to retire from his Singapore Open match due to lower back pain and spasm,” father DK Sen told The Indian Express adding it was a recurring problem. “He had similar issues during practice last Saturday. Despite trying his best, he wasn’t fully fit. We’ll focus on his recovery now,” he added. Story continues below this ad FILE: Lakshya Sen in action. (PHOTO: Badminton Association of India) Meanwhile it was a solid …

Lakshya troubled by back issues, Satwik-Chirag return with solid win & Aakarshi, Unnati nick one set off Chinese top names

Lakshya troubled by back issues, Satwik-Chirag return with solid win & Aakarshi, Unnati nick one set off Chinese top names

Published by Webster

A persistent lower back issue is making Lakshya Sen’s outings at the top level of competition a stop-start affair. On Wednesday at the Singapore Open Super 750, India’s top men’s singles shuttler was again forced to end his stay after the troublesome back flared up. Playing the turbo-charged Taiwanese Lin Chun-Yi, Sen did well to take the opener 21-15 and even caught up at 17-17 from 12-15 down in the second. But he needed repeated medical treatment requests and simply couldn’t continue leading to yet another Round 1 exit, this time from mid-match retirement. He trailed 21-15,17-21, 13-5 with severely restricted movement. “Lakshya had to retire from his Singapore Open match due to lower back pain and spasm,” father DK Sen told The Indian Express adding it was a recurring problem. “He had similar issues during practice last Saturday. Despite trying his best, he wasn’t fully fit. We’ll focus on his recovery now,” he added. Story continues below this ad FILE: Lakshya Sen in action. (PHOTO: Badminton Association of India) Meanwhile it was a solid …