Barcelona Masters: Saina Nehwal advances to second round but Prannoy loses
Other Sports | February 19, 2020 19:25 ISTSania took just 35 minutes to beat her opponent in the first round match.
Sania took just 35 minutes to beat her opponent in the first round match.
The Indian duo has been inconsistent in 2019 and didn't enjoy a good start to the new year.
Saina has to move into the top 16 in the race to Tokyo rankings by April 28 to qualify for her fourth consecutive Olympics. She is currently ranked 22nd.
Saina and Sindhu skipped the event to focus on Olympic qualification. The duo already have points from last year's Sudirman Cup and won't benefit much even if they play the continental Championships which will be held in Manila, Philippines from February 11 to 16.
Star Badminton player Saina Nehwal has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party today. Nehwal was formally inducted in the party today.
Pullela Gopichand dismissed concerns regarding PV Sindhu's form despite her poor run after winning the 2019 BWF World Championships.
Saina Nehwal lost to 13-21, 21-17, 15-21 to Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt while Kidambi Srikanth was handed a 21-12, 14-21, 11-21 loss by Shesar Hiren Rhustavito.
At this moment, world champion PV Sindhu (6th) and B Sai Praneeth (11th) and men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (8th) have more or less assured their berths for the Tokyo Games.
Saina Nehwal suffered a shock 21-19 13-21 5-21 loss to Sayaka Takahashi while Kidambi Srikanth went down to Shesar Hiren Rhustavito 21-18 12-21 14-21.
The Prakash Padukone Academy has cleared that it played no role in Saina Nehwal shifting from Hyderabad to Bengaluru.
Fifth seed Sindhu will open against Japan's Aya Ohori, whom she beat last week in the second round, while Saina faces another Japanese Sayaka Takahashi in her opening match.
In an upcoming book 'Dreams of a Billion: India and the Olympic Games', the former All-England champion and national head coach Gopichand spoke about the difficult times, also corroborated by Saina's husband and former CWG gold medallist Parupalli Kashyap.
Saina was no match for Marin, who took exactly half-an-hour to dispose off the Indian's challenge 8-21 7-21.
Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu cruised to the quarterfinals of Malaysia Masters with straight-game victories.
World number six Sindhu had a dream run at the World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, winning the title last year, but she made early exits in the rest of the season, including her failure to defend the World Tour Finals crown in December.
Actress Parineeti Chopra will next be seen in Saina Nehwal biopic.
More than a week after the brutal incident took place in Hyderabad, police shot dead all the four accused in an alleged 'encounter' near Shadnagar town of Telangana's Ranga Reddy district in the wee hours of Friday.
Three-time former champion Saina, who has been battling illness and injuries, is going through a bad patch, having lost six times in the first round this season.
The 26-year-old from Guntur, who had guided Bangalore Raptors to their maiden title win in the last PBL, will not feature in the fifth edition scheduled to be held from January 20 to February 9.
Saina Nehwal has decided to opt-out of the upcoming season of the Premier Badminton League to recover for the next season, which also includes the Tokyo Olympics.
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