Saina Nehwal Goes Down to Olympic Champion Li Xuerui in China Open Final. (12-21, 15-21)

Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal's dream of defending her women's singles title came crashing as she suffered a straight-game defeat to Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the final of the $700,000 China Open Superseries Premier in Fuzhou.

The Olympic bronze medallist Saina, committed a number of unforced errors to go down 12-21, 15-21 against World No. 7 Li in the women's singles summit clash which lasted for 39 minutes at the Haixia Olympic Sports Center.

Up against an opponent against whom she has lost nine times in the past, Saina failed to create the pressure which could have wilted Li, who showed better understanding of the Indian's game to outdo her for the 10th time.

In their 12th meeting, Saina initially used her knowledge of the conditions to her advantage to zoom to a 4-1 lead early on but she committed too many unforced errors after that for Li to move ahead.

Saina, who last played Li in Malaysian open, struggled with a few strokes going wide and also left gaps on her left which the Chinese exploited to wrest a 7-4 lead.

Saina won a parallel game and a point when Li missed the line after a long rally but the Chinese used her net drops and rode on Saina's unforced errors to lead 11-6 at the break.

Li, who has won the last five matches against Saina, continued her march after the interval even as the Indian kept breathing down her neck with some occasional points.

Li made some immaculate saves while Saina started crumbling under pressure which allowed he Chinese to lead 19-10. Saina then again hit wide to give Li a 10-point advantage at 20-10. Saina saved a couple before mistiming a return to give the first game to Li.

In the second game, Saina surged ahead to a 4-0 lead once again. Playing their fifth final of the year, Li and Saina engaged in engrossing rallies and even though Li came up with some spectacular shots, she also committed some mistakes to allow Saina lead 11-6 at the interval.

However, Li changed gears after the interval and came up with sharp smashes and drops to reel off seven points to surpass Saina and make it 13-12 in her favour.

Li picked up the shuttle early and came up with disguised shots to catch Saina offguard.

There was a spring in Li's steps as she dominated the proceedings. The Indian failed to give the finishing touch to the rallies and also went wide and long too often to help Li eventually grab a 19-15 lead.

A brilliant drop by Li found Saina stretched as her stroke went to net and then next the Indian hit the shuttle long as Li clinched her second title of the season.

Saina Nehwal defeated former world champion Yihan Wang 21-13, 21-18 in the semi-final. The Indian top seed will face sixth seed Li Xuerui in the title clash

Fuzhou, China: Saina Nehwal entered the women's singles final of the $700,000 China Open Superseries Premier on Saturday, with a win over local girl and former world champion Yihan Wang here on Saturday. 

The top seed needed just 42 minutes to ease past the former World No.1 Chinese 21-13, 21-18 at the Haixia Olympic Sports Center. This is Saina's third consecutive victory against the reigning Asian Games gold medallist, all coming in 2015, bettering her record to 4-9.

Also, this is World No.2 Saina's fifth final of the year. She won two at the India Open Super Series and India Grand Prix Gold but lost the All-England and World Championships final to World No.1 Carolina Marin of Spain.

In the summit clash, the Hyderabadi will take on another Chinese, reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui, who has a domineering 9-2 record against Saina, also having won the last five encounters between them. Saina's last victory against Xuerui came in 2012 but this year Saina has been a force to reckon with.

The 25-year-old Saina was easily the superior player on court against Yihan. Her agility, movement, speed and shots just could not be matched by the Olympic silver medallist. Eventually, Saina clinched 42 of the 73 points played in the match.

The top seeded Indian was by far the better player in the first game though Yihan kept at her heels. But from 14-13, Saina kept taking points to earn as many as seven straight points to kitty the game.

Yihan came out with a much stronger challenge in the second game, fighting for each point. She upped her game at the net and won many more points than in the first game.

Saina was put under pressure by her opponent and the Chinese crowd who was behind her but she kept her nerve to lose only one point from 17-all to pocket the game and enter the final.

Saina Nehwal Enters China Open Badminton Semis

op seed Saina Nehwal stormed into the semifinal of the China Open badminton tournament with a 21-16, 21-13 win against Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in Fuzhou on Friday. Saina will play Chinese seventh seed Wang Yihan for a spot in the final. Wang defeated fourth seed Tai Tzu Ying 21018, 21-17.

Saina is also the defending champion having won the 2014 edition.

In the other half of the draw, Chinese Olympic champion Li Xuerui will clash with teammate Wang Shixian, who upset Spanish world champion Carolina Marin and tournament second seed 21-13, 10-21, 21-10.

Saina broke little sweat in her clash with Nozomi. In three previous meetings, the Indian champion had never lost a match and on Thursday, she kept the pressure on the unseeded Japanese girl.

The players went neck and neck till 6-6, but after that Saina broke away, built small leads and finally won in 21 minutes.

The second game was rather one-sided with Saina building a six-point lead (9-3) and never looking back. At 18-10, it was smooth sailing for Saina and she closed the match in 42 minutes.

Saina Nehwal Advances, PV Sindhu Loses in China Open Badminton

Fuzhou: It was a contrasting day for India's two top badminton players as top seed Saina Nehwal advanced to the women's singles quarter-finals, while P.V. Sindhu suffered a second round loss at the prestigious $700,000 China Open Superseries Premier here on Thursday.

Defending champion Saina was given a tough fight by Malaysian Tee Jing Yi but the World No.2 came out on top 21-10, 19-21, 21-19 in 55 minutes at the Haixia Olympic Sports Center.

This was Saina's third career win over Tee in as many matches and she will next take on Japanese Nozomi Okuhara against whom the Indian also has a 3-0 win-loss record.

After comprehensively clinching the first game without conceding the lead even once, Saina was given a tough fight by her unseeded opponent. Though the 25-year-old Indian led for most of the match, she was upset towards the end of the game. Tee won three of the four points played from 18-all to bag the game and push the match into the decider.

The third game was another tight contest with the No.34 Malaysian taking a 6-2 lead at the start. Saina closed the gap and kept it neck-and-neck till 17-all, when she found that extra bit of steam she needed to kitty the next three points and reach matchpoint.

Tee saved two matchpoints but Saina sealed the deal on her third attempt.

Just a few minutes later, Sindhu had to bite the dust on the adjacent court, losing a marathon one hour and 28 minute battle to Chinese fifth seed Shixian Wang 21-18, 18-21, 16-21.

After sharing the first two games with the same scoreline, it all boiled down to the deciding game, which was an extremely close contest.

It was all even till 13-all when the experienced Chinese, a former No.1, kept her nerves to race away to matchpoint. World No.6 Shixian moved well at the net and in the end it were her smashes which won her the game and the contest.

World No. 2 and defending champion Saina Nehwal defeated China's Sun Yu 22-20, 21-18 in just 49 minutes to enter the second round of the China Open Super Series

Fuzhou: Leading Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal edged past her Chinese opponent Sun Yu 22-20, 21-18 to move into the second round of the China Open here on Wednesday.

Though it was a neck-and-neck affair, the top seed held her nerve to win the gruelling battle in 49 minutes.

In the first game, it was Yu who started in top gear, picking up four quick points. Saina, the defending champion, made a swift comeback to make it 6-7 but the Chinese surged ahead again.

Yu led 18-14 and looked all set to bag the opener. But the Hyderabad-born shuttler stormed back with four back-to-back points to make it 18-18. They were locked at 20-20 too but then Saina picked up the last two crucial points to pocket the game in the tie breaker.

In the second game, Saina carried forward the momentum gained after winning the first and was very quick to respond to anything that Yu produced. She led from the start and after some hiccups in the middle of the game, finished on a strong note, taking it 21-18.

In the men's singles, Ajay Jayaram lost to World No.1 Chen Long 12-21, 11-21. The No.25 shuttler was hoping against hope to upset Long, who was just too good.

In neither game Jayaram looked like giving his opponent a scare. Long dominated easily and quite convincingly clinched the encounter.

It was a sad outing for defending champion Kadambi Srikanth too as he crashed out of the tournament after losing his first-round encounter to Hu Yun of Hong Kong 21-12, 21-18.

In the first game Yun led from the beginning till the end but Srikanth tried staging a comeback in the second. It was all even at 16-16 but then the Hong Kong shuttler pipped Srikanth to clinch the issue.

In another men's singles match, Prannoy Kumar battled hard but ultimately lost against his Chinese opponent Guo Kai 14-21, 21-17, 19-21 in a first round match that stretched for an hour and three minutes.

In another women's singles match, P.V Sindhu beat her Russian rival Ksenia Polikarpova in straight sets 21-14, 21-9.

Sindhu had it easy in the first game, and brushed aside Ksenia's challenge. It was locked at 2-2 but then Sindhu led till the end. In the second game, Sindhu was a class apart. Though Ksenia managed to make it 5-5 but the Indian proved too strong and won quite easily.

Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth Look For an Encore at China Open

Fuzhou, China: Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth will look to shrug off the recent dip in form and put the best foot forward when they begin their campaign as defending champions at the $700,000 China Open Super Series Premier starting with the qualifiers here on Tuesday. 

The 25-year-old Saina had been suffering from a abdominal pain which affected her performance at Japan, Denmark and France Super Series, where she made early exits. Also there is some issues with her achilles heels but the Indian is upbeat about a good show here.

"I had some abdominal pain and little discomfort in my heel but now I am fine. I trained harded in the last few weeks and I am really looking forward to the tournament. It is an Olympic year and it is an important event. I will give my best," said Saina.

The top seeded Indian will take on China's Sun Yu in the opening round. Even though Saina has a 4-1 record against the Chinese with the only defeat coming in the 2013 China Open in Shanghai, the World No. 11 might prove to be a formidable opponent.

In men's singles, Srikanth too had been troubled by injury and poor form ever since he stood on the podium at the Indian Open in New Delhi. The Hyderabadi had to skip the Asian Championship because of a pain in shin and then he made early exits at Japan, Korea, Denmark and France.

The fifth seeded Indian will take on Hu Yun of Hong Kong. The Indian has a 2-1 record against Yun but he lost to him in their last encounter at the World Championship in August.

In women's singles, two-time bronze medallist at World Championship, P V Sindhu, who reached the finals of Denmark Open, will open her campaign against Russian Ksenia Polikarpova.

Among other Indians in men's singles, Parupalli Kashyap will be missing in action after being sidelines because of a torn calf muscle injury. H S Prannoy and Ajay Jayaram will however look to get some good result in the prestigious tournament.

H S Prannoy, who had scripted the downfall of two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan at the French Open, will open his campaign against a qualifier, while Korea Open finalist and Dutch Open winner Jayaram will square up against top seed Chen Long of China in his opening match at the Haixia Olympic Sports Center.

In women's doubles, Commonwealth Games silver medallists Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will play against Japan's Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao in the opening round. The men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy withdrew from the event.

H.S. Prannoy Drops to No.21 in World Rankings. H.S. Prannoy stunned Lin Dan at the French Open last month, but suffered a string of early round losses since then

New Delhi: H.S. Prannoy dropped four places to be ranked No.21 in the latest men's singles rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Thursday. 

Prannoy, who beat legendary Chinese shuttler Lin Dan at the French Open last month, has had a string of early round losses, leading him to drop by four spots. Mumbai's Ajay Jayaram also dropped a place to be ranked No.25.

Kidambi Srikanth and reigning Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap, meanwhile, maintained their spots at No.5 and No.12, respectively.

Likewise, Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu also stayed at No.2 and No.13 in women's singles rankings. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini also did not move and remained at No.11 in women's doubles rankings.

But Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy dropped two places in men's doubles rankings.

Badminton Association of India Gets High Court Boost on IBL 2

The court on Tuesday declined to grant any injunction order, as requested by Sporty Solutionz Pvt. Ltd. (SSPL), adjourning the case till December 10. The Badminton Association of India (BAI), which will be organising the tournament, meanwhile has to file its reply to the petition.

"We are content with the latest development in our legal matter with Sporty Solutionz. The Honourable High Court has decided to withhold the injunction requested by Sporty Solutionz on the organisation of the second season of the IBL," BAI president and IBL chairman Akhilesh Das Gupta said.

"This means we are free to organise the league as originally envisioned and are sparing no effort to make sure it goes ahead as planned. The BAI is the government recognised federation for badminton in India and badminton is solely BAI's intellectual property. We have full faith in the Indian judicial system and are confident the matter will be settled in our favour."

The agreement between BAI and Sporty Solutionz was terminated by the former after IBL-1 as Sporty Solutionz "was found guilty of various breaches". With this termination, IBL 2 could not be organised in 2014 and 2015.

SSPL was the inaugural IBL's commercial partners and had pleaded for the protection of the tournament's Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to the high court. SSPL had filed the plea on October 17 but made the news public by sending a statement right when the BAI launched the second season of IBL here on October 29.

The second edition of IBL has been planned to be held in January 2016.

Lin Dan Headlines Rio 2016 Badminton Test Event The 32-year-old Lin Dan has been confirmed for the tournament at the Riocentro venue from November 24 to 29.

Rio de Janeiro: China's five-time world champion and dual Olympic gold medalist Lin Dan will be the star attraction of the Rio 2016 badminton test event later this month.

The 32-year-old has been confirmed for the tournament at the Riocentro venue from November 24 to 29, Brazilian media reported on Monday, reports Xinhua.

Lin, considered one of badminton's greatest ever players, will be aiming for a hat-trick of Olympic gold medals next year having triumphed in Beijing in 2008 and London four years later.

The women's test event will be headlined by Tai Tzu-yin, currently third in the world rankings.

The Rio Games, to be held August 5-21 next year, will be the first Olympics in South America.

B. Sai Praneeth Loses in Bitburger Open, Indian Challenge Ends B. Sai Praneeth lost to fifth seeded Rajiv OUseph of England 21-17, 6-21, 18-21 in 50 minutes in the pre-quarter-finals

Saarbrucken, Germany: B. Sai Praneeth lost his singles pre-quarterfinal match against England's Rajiv Ouseph in a three-setter as Indian challenge at the Bitburger Badminton Open Grand Prix Gold came to an end here. 

The 16th seeded Sai put up a brave fight before going down to the fifth seeded Englishman 21-17, 6-21, 18-21 in 50 minutes at the Saarlandhalle Saarbrucken.

Earlier, the Indian had registered a 24-22, 21-17 win over Indonesia's Andre Kurniawan Tedjono to book a last 16 berth in the USD 120,000 event.

In the women's doubles, the second seeded Indian duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa were stunned by the Dutch pair of Samantha Barning and Iris Tabeling in a second round match.

The Indians lost 21-23, 21-13, 24-26 to the unseeded Dutch duo in a thrilling match.

Dutch pair of Samantha Barning and Iris Tabeling defeated the second seeds 23-21, 13-21, 26-24 in a hotly contested 51-minute encounter at the Saarlandhalle Saarbrucken. This was World No.11 Jwala and Ashwini's first loss to the World No.34 Dutch girls in three outings

Saarbrucken, Germany: Top Indian women's doubles shuttlers Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa suffered a second round loss at the $120,000 Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold here on Thursday.

Dutch pair of Samantha Barning and Iris Tabeling defeated the second seeds 23-21, 13-21, 26-24 in a hotly contested 51-minute encounter at the Saarlandhalle Saarbrucken. This was World No.11 Jwala and Ashwini's first loss to the World No.34 Dutch girls in three outings.

The Indian pair had received a first round bye.

Meanwhile, compatriot B. Sai Praneeth earned another straight games victory to enter the men's singles third round late on Wednesday evening. The 16th seed needed only 46 minutes to beat Indonesia's Andre Kurniawan Tedjono 24-22, 21-17 in the second round played to level their career record at 1-1.

The Hyderabadi will next take on English fifth seed Rajiv Ouseph for a place in the quarter-finals. This will be their first match.

Kidambi Srikanth Back in World Top Five

New Delhi: Top Indian men's singles shuttler Kidambi Srikanth rose a place to be ranked No.5 in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released on Thursday.

The Guntur-born, who has a highest ranking of World No.3, hasn't been in form of late, having suffered early exits in recent tournaments.

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap slid two places to be at No.12 as H.S. Prannoy maintained his position at No.17. Buoyed by his recent win at the Dutch Open, Ajay Jayaram also moved up a place to No.24.

In women's singles, Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and double World Championship bronze medallist P.V. Sindhu stayed at No.2 and No.13 respectively.

Meanwhile, 2010 Commonwealth Games women's doubles champions Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also jumped two places to be ranked No.11 while men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy went up a spot to No.18.

There are no Indians in the top-25 of the world's mixed doubles rankings.

Sai Praneeth Progresses at Bitburger Open The 16th seed needed only 46 minutes to beat Indonesia's Andre Kurniawan Tedjono 24-22, 21-17 in the second round played at the Saarlandhalle Saarbrucken to level their career record at 1-1 on Wednesday.

Saarbrucken, Germany: Indian shuttler B. Sai Praneeth earned another straight games victory to enter the men's singles third round of the $120,000 Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold here.

The 16th seed needed only 46 minutes to beat Indonesia's Andre Kurniawan Tedjono 24-22, 21-17 in the second round played at the Saarlandhalle Saarbrucken to level their career record at 1-1 on Wednesday.

The Hyderabadi will next take on English fifth seed Rajiv Ouseph for a place in the quarter-finals. This will be their first match.

Much-Delayed Indian Badminton League Edition 2 Hits Legal Roadblock

The Indian Badminton League has hit a legal roadblock after its commercial partners Sporty Solutionz went to court trying to protect its Intellectual Property Rights. The IBL started in 2013 but ran into trouble due to various issues. The second edition of the league has been scheduled for January next year.(Sahara India Retain Lucknow Franchise)

Having severed its relationship with its commercial partners, next year's IBL will be hosted by the national federation - Badminton Association of India. Unhappy Sporty Solutionz has now gone to Delhi High Court against BAI.(All the Latest Badminton Updates)

"We on behalf of our clients, M/s Sporty Solutionz Pvt Ltd have applied for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights of our clients. We have invested heavily to build the brand IBL. This is also associated with our goodwill.

"We have pleaded in the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi to restrict any other party from using the name, logo, title or any Intellectual Property associated with Brand Indian Badminton League or IBL," said the Sporty Solutionz Counsel Sanjeev Kumar in a statement.

"BAI has the experience of holding much bigger events such as Thomas and Uber Cup, Super Series event and World Championship and so we decided to do it on our own from this year to ensure the longevity of the tournament. We will be back with a bang next year," BAI president Dr Akhilesh Das Gupta said on Thursday.

The IBL had its share of delays with the first auctions going through multiple postponements from June 30, 2013 to July 19, 2013 to finally being conducted on July 22.

Similarly, the second edition was initially scheduled from September-October 2014 and then postponed to January-February 2015, before finally scheduling it in first fortnight of January.

Permanent annual fixture

"We have a one month window from December 17 to January 18 every year and we want to make it a permanent event without any gap or delay and for that it is important that BAI hosts the event on its own," Dr Das Gupta explained.

The league, which could not be conducted in last two years, will retain its six franchises format represented by the Indian cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Lucknow with talks on to replace Pune with Chennai.

"We want to go with one state one team this time. Last time we had Mumbai and Pune from Maharashtra which is not advisable. So we are looking at Chennai as a venue this year," Dr Das Gupta said.

"The franchises will also have to give a bank guarantee to ensure the interest of the players," he added.

A Bollywood Boost

Just like the first edition, players will be auctioned with fresh contracts being issued by BAI. However, IBL 2 will also have a few new franchises with many Bollywood celebrities set to join the IBL bandwagon.

"We will have a Bollywood celebrity as brand ambassador of IBL, besides most franchises are trying to involve Bollywood celebrities in their team by giving them stakes in the franchise," Dr Das Gupta said.

The second edition will witness enormous cash windfall with a hike in the overall prize money of the event and also substantial increase in the purse available for each franchise to bag their choicest players during the auction which is likely to be held in November.

Why coaches worried

The scheduling of the league is another major worry for players and the coaches.

The IBL season 2 takes place in January next year, which is right in the middle of a crucial rest period for the players.

An injury during this time might jeopardise India's Olympic medal hopes. Former player and coach of the national team Pullela Gopichand reckons the timing of the tournament will be the biggest challenge that organisers will have to face.

"Ideally as a coach I would want six months of training and six months of tournament and that's how things were earlier but now things have changed."

Sai Praneeth Advances in Bitburger Open beat World No.259 Wadenka 21-12, 21-12 at the Saarlandhalle Saarbrucken to take a 1-0 lead in career meetings over the German.

Saarbrucken, Germany: Indian shuttler B. Sai Praneeth got off to a winning start, by earning a straight games triumph over local lad Tobias Wadenka at the $120,000 Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold here.

The 16th seeded Sai needed just 27 minutes on Tuesday to beat World No.259 Wadenka 21-12, 21-12 at the Saarlandhalle Saarbrucken to take a 1-0 lead in career meetings over the German.

The Indian will next take on Indonesian Andre Kurniawan Tedjono who has a 1-0 advantage career meets over Sai.