Badminton

The BWF said that the decision was made following a BWF Council Meeting on Tuesday. Notably, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended last month that athletes from Russia and Belarus be allowed to return to competition as neutrals, provided they did not support the war or were not affiliated to the military. However, BWF has decided to continue its decision from last year.

The return of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who missed the Asian Mixed Team event due to injury, will bolster the men's doubles squad, which also have the likes of Dhruv Kapila & MR Arjun. On the other hand, the experienced Ashwini Ponnappa and new partner Tanisha Castro will provide back up to the All England semi-finalists Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly in the women's doubles.

Whereas in singles, Pramod had to settle for Silver, while Sukant secured Bronze. Pramod and Sukant defeated the Korean pair of Joo Dongjae and Shin Kyung Hwan in the men's doubles SL 3 - SL 4. The finals were a tight affair, but the India pair closed the game in straight sets. Both Pramod and Sukant played their best games of the tournament, the final score read 22-20 and 21-19, helping them to secure gold.

The Padma Shri Awardee won a hard-fought match with Japan's Daisuke Fujihara to book a place in the finals. The match lasted for 86 minutes and swung both ways with Fujihara taking the first set 21-19. Pramod made a strong comeback in the second set winning it 21-19 and pushing it to the third set, where Pramod showcased his exceptional gameplaying wrapping up the set 21-12. The final score read 19-21, 21-19 and 21-12, Fujihara threw everything he had in his armour, but Pramod had all the answers.

With his 17th tour-level win of the season, Rune has improved to 2-0 in his ATP Head-to-Head series against Sinner. The Dane is up two spots to No. 7 in the ATP Live Rankings and can rise to a career-high No. 6 by claiming his eighth tour-level crown on Sunday.

The Padma Shri Awardee Bhagat reached the semi-finals in singles and men's doubles event while Kadam has reached the semi-finals of men's singles and doubles. Pramod eased past Peru's Pedro Pablo De Vinatea 21-7, 21-12 in the men's single quarter final clash. It took him just 30 minutes to book a clash with Japan's Daisuke Fujihara in the semi-finals.

Bhagat has entered the singles, mixed doubles and men's doubles, on the other hand, Kadam reached the quarterfinals of singles and men's doubles. Bhagat, the Padma Shri Awardee, defeated Brazil's Raysson Ferreira De Abreu Silva, and Dominican Republic's Patricio Andres Echeverria Olave to make it to the singles quarterfinals where he will face Peru's Pedro Pablo De Vinatea, according to information received here.

This is Rajawat's maiden BWF World Tour title and first Super 300 tournament final appearance. His only previous final on the BWF World Tour was at last year's Odisha Open Super 100 event. Moreover, Priyanshu's win was the first men's singles title on Tour for an Indian shuttler since January last year when Lakshya Sen won the India Open.

Priyanshu's only previous final on the BWF World Tour was at last year's Odisha Open -- a Super 100 event, where he lost to compatriot Kiran George at Cuttack. In the semi-finals against Nhat Nguyen, the world No. 35 in the latest badminton rankings, Priyanshu looked second-best in the early exchanges and fell 5-2 behind.

Rajawat, who had stunned top seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in the second round, defeated Chi Yu Jen 21-18, 21-18 in a 44-minute quarterfinal clash at the Palais Des Sports in the French city. Rajawat, currently 58th in the world badminton rankings, had defeated world No. 12 Nishimoto 21-8, 21-16 to seal a place in the last eight of the BWF Super 300 badminton tournament. He continued in the same vein on Friday, playing aggressively and keeping the Chinese Taipei player on his toes throughout.