Badminton

It is no mean feat for a boy like Satwiksairaj, coming from a humble background in a small town to rise up to Olympic standards. The 21-year-old shuttler from Amalapuram, a green and picturesque Godavari town, picked up the game while hanging around with his physical trainer father. As time passed by, the child blossomed into an excellent player and went on to bag a medal in the doubles category at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Various bodies responsible for the preparations including the world governing body of badminton were working very hard to make the Games a success, BWF secretary general Thomas Lund said. He was also upbeat that no major declines of invitations had been registered with a full turn out of top shuttlers expected to show up for the event despite the unprecedented challenges presented by the COVID-19 situation.

In response to a question on which famous stranger would she like to have breakfast with and why, the 2019 World Championships gold medallist in Basel, said, "Serena Williams. I also like it when people are jovial and friendly and greet you in the morning, ask how you are. I think that is very nice." Talking about her training schedule, Sindhu, who is a medal contender at the Tokyo Olympics in July.

The tournament was one of the last two qualification events for this year's Tokyo Olympic Games. Its postponement comes as a body blow for the qualification chances of Indian stars like Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal.

Praneeth feels that improving his fitness is what is required for him to bridge the gap between himself and some of the top players in the game as he is not lagging too far behind in the technical aspects. "I don't have any problems with my game but I must get fitter. The level of badminton will go up a couple of notches if I get more fit and remain fit consistently," Praneeth told the Olympic Channel.

Krishna Nagar and Prem Kumar Ale were also brilliant on the day, winning the other two gold medals for India in combined SH6 and the mixed doubles WH1-WH2 categories, respectively India topped the tally with 20 medals (4 gold, 6 silver and 10 bronze medals), ahead of France who finished with eight medals (4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze) and Malaysia with seven medals (3 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze).

In a quarter-final match, Saina defeated Iris Wang of the USA 21-19, 17-21, 21-19 in 60 minutes. She will now play unseeded Line Christophersen of Denmark in the semi-finals. Ashwini and Sikki beat England's third seeds Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith 21-14, 21-18 42 minutes in the quarter-finals.

Lee was in his first major final, but he showed no sign of being overawed. Instead, he played at a scintillating pace, his attack unwavering in intensity, and his defence standing up to the task of parrying the incoming missiles. With Axelsen too throwing everything into the contest, what unfolded was an absorbing duel.

"I'm very happy to be the All England champion again. I wanted to play the same in this final as in my other matches, but I wanted to play my shots to the back higher, which worked very well. It's her (Pornpawee) first time in the final of the All England, I think she felt a little bit of pressure," said Nozomi.

In a quarterfinal match, Sindhu beat Akane 1621, 2116, 2119 in one hour and 16 minutes in the Super 1000 tournament.In the semifinals, fifth seed Sindhu will face sixth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand. Earlier, in a quarterfinal match, Pornpawee beat unseeded Beiwen Zhang of the USA 721, 2113, 219 in 38 minutes.