Lee Zii Jia beats Kento Momota 21-7, 13-21, 21-11 in the All England Badminton Open 2022 quarter-final. Lee was steady since the beginning of the opening match. He did not give Kento a chance to get a hold of the match with his brilliant execution in the first half of the game.

Read also: Badminton World Rankings: Lakshya Sen moves up to 11, Srikanth at 12

Though Lee could not continue the same enthusiasm in the second half of the game, he ended up winning the game. Lee said post-match of the All England Badminton Open 2022, "Momota couldn't control the shuttle in the first game. I just tried to keep playing my attacking shots. This win gives me a lot of confidence. The next round will be against Lakshya, who is in good form. I just need to enjoy my game and play the way I have. Lakshya is playing very well and will be a top player in future."

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He will now clash against Indian young star Lakshya Sen. Sen has quite some records in defeating World No 3 Anders Antonsen and World No 1 Viktor Axelsen.

Indian badminton player Lakshya Sen crashed out in the first round of the Thailand Open 2025 badminton tournament while Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap and Unnati Hooda advanced to the second round of the women's singles after winning tough matches in the Super 500 tournament.

Unnati faces a tough challenge

Unnati Hooda faces a tough challenge against top seed Pornpawee Chochuwong, while Malvika Bansod takes on former world champion and seasoned Thai shuttler Ratchanok Intanon in the second round.

Aakarshi Kashyap completes the women's singles trio as she looks to continue her campaign. In the men’s singles draw, Tharun Mannepalli remains the lone Indian hope.

Lakshya and Priyanshu suffered early exits

In the men's singles, both Lakshya Sen and Priyanshu Rajawat suffered early exits, bowing out in the first round. The women’s singles saw better fortunes, with Aakarshi Kashyap, Unnati Hooda, and Malvika Bansod progressing to the second round, while Anupama Upadhyay and Santosh Ramraj were eliminated.

Lakshya Sen was ousted by Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in a three-game encounter that lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes. Sen, ranked among India’s top badminton talents, went down 18-21, 21-9, 17-21 in a match that saw momentum swings.

After narrowly losing the opening game, Sen responded with a dominating performance in the second, unleashing sharp smashes and fast-paced rallies to level the match. But Nguyen dug deep in the decider, pulling ahead 17-13 and holding his composure in the pressure moments to complete the upset and move into the second round. India’s men’s singles woes were compounded by Priyanshu Rajawat’s exit, as he fell short in another three-game battle, losing 13-21, 21-17, 16-21 to Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan.

Kidambi Srikanth could not qualify for main round

Earlier, former world no.1 Kidambi Srikanth could not qualify for the main round of the Thailand Open 2025 badminton tournament after losing his second match in the qualifiers on Tuesday.

Srikanth, a world championships silver medallist, defeated Sankar Subramanian 21-15, 21-17 in his first round of qualifiers before losing to Tharun Mannepalli 21-16, 21-19 in the second.

The contemporary Indian Badminton has so far gained the popularity in its country. However, certain issues need to be resolved. The biggest concern lies in the shuttlers facing a different environment in the non-Asian Countries. The major problem they face is the thick and slower court. 

This issue had made India short of many assured medals by whiskers. Be it peak Kidambi Srikanth missing his World Title in 2017 to Reddy-Shetty failing in big tournaments.

How do Indian and Asian Courts differ from European Courts?

The Asian Summers

Speaking about the weather in the Asian summers, it is humid. The Asian stadia provide full on air-conditioned courts for athletes. 

Air-conditioned rooms are marked favorable for shuttles, as the shuttles fly faster here. Here are the reasons:

• Lower air density: Air conditioning reduces temperature and humidity, resulting in denser air with fewer air molecules. This decrease in air resistance allows shuttlecocks to travel faster.
• Reduced air turbulence: Air conditioning systems circulate and filter the air, minimizing turbulence and air pockets that can slow down the shuttlecock.
• Consistent airflow: Air conditioning maintains a consistent airflow, reducing unpredictable air currents that can affect shuttlecock trajectory.
• Lower humidity: Dry air reduces the shuttlecock's drag coefficient, enabling it to fly faster.

This helps the athletes to maintain faster rallies and increased smashes with an attacking play. The also helps them to read the speed and work on their reaction time'

Added to this, the enhthralling supporters add more fuel to the pagddlers when tired.

European winters

European winters contradics the humid weather. Unlike the windy weather here, the air feels cal, slow and still. 

Slow and still air significantly impacts shuttlers' performance, technique, and strategy. it included different physical challenges along with rectified techniques and strategies.

The challanges a shuttler faces due to these conditions are as follows:

• Reduced shuttlecock speed: Slower reactions, less power.
• Increased drag: Shuttles dip and drop unexpectedly.
• Unpredictable trajectory: Difficulty judging distance and direction.
• Fatigue: Players expend more energy to generate power.

However, these are the "negetives" bigger stages like Olympics, offer.

Slow court, A Bane to the Shuttlers

Here are some instances when paddles were denied their crown due to the courts' behaviour.

• 2017 Kidambi Srikanth, a fast court specialist in India missed his Worlds Title in the slow Glaswegian conditions. The slow pitch defied from the title as the Korean Son Wan-ho defeated him in the quarterfinal.
• Tanvi Patri, a 13 year old rookie got defeated in Thailand's sluggish pitch last December. The thick air denied her speed, showing a red alert that she needs to gain some strength.
• And the most discussed duo- Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty. Right now, Reddy-Shetty is the finest doubles player in Indian Badminton periphery. Reddy still has his world fastest smash of 493km/hr. Even then, this duo cannot assert full power in slow court. And thus, they lost a few of the most serious and well-deserved titles.

Demands of Sluggish Pitches

Slow and still air significantly impacts shuttlers' performance, techniques, and strategies. Someone who was been trained on faster courts will find it difficult to adapt to the conditions if exposed.

The shuttles face certain physical changes that are listed below:

• Reduced shuttlecock speed: Slower reactions, less power.
• Increased drag: Shuttles dip and drop unexpectedly.
• Unpredictable trajectory: Difficulty judging distance and direction.
• Fatigue: Players expend more energy to generate power.

An athlete thus needs to make a few technical adjustments to combat the challenges.

• Slower stroke speed: Compensate for reduced shuttlecock speed.
• Increased wristwork: Generate power and control.
• Softer touches: Reduce shuttlecock's descent.
• More spin: Control shuttlecock trajectory.

The strategic changes include:

• Patient play: Waiting for opportunities to attack.
• Defensive focus: Exploiting opponents' struggles.
• Net play: Using precise, soft shots.
• Angle play: Creating sharp angles to disrupt opponents.

Effects on a few notable Shots:

1. Smashes: Less effective due to reduced power.
2. Clear shots: More difficult to execute.
3. Drops: Harder to control.

Slow Court? Not an Issue!

Not an old story when Lakshya Sen lost to Victor Axelsen in the Olympics semi-final. Slower Courts like that in Europe, especially in stages like Olympics demand patience and exquisite footwork, with strong defence. Lakshya had his defence in the checklist, but his footwork was still a sore in his throat. The Denmark giant was a set ahead when Lakshya fought but lost to nerves.

The bronze medal match had all these including his exposed injury in his smashing hand. The defence he has can aid in this condition but muscular opponents are still a challange to him.

The other veteran on court H.S. Pranoy is a clever lad with versatile techniques. He has got his techniques handy to combat the sluggishness. He thus not only won in Malaysia, but has a Worlds medal round his neck.

Two-time Olympic medalist P.V. Sindhu with her blazing power heft and work rate till 2019, defies these challanging conditions. The Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal with her sturdy power smash overshadowed her limitations in court coverage capabilities.

Indian Approach

India has a love for stroke-making. Even though it is aesthetically pleasing, it question the  practicality in World Badminton.

With the October ticks in, the Europe session starts. The badminton camp then comes back and does a wide India-hoping, visiting smallcities playing number of tournaments! But how that that judge their efficiency in slow courts!

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The slow courts host a major number of important international tournaments. With India not getting enough time their will never expire the frustration of them not getting medals.

Rookies like Priyanshu Rajawat will depend more on strokeplays like his ancestor Srikant used todo. Not failing the later, Rajawat will succumb to frustrating errors, missing points. Srikant had Son Wan-ho, but Rajawat will have way more equipped opponents-  Kunlavut Vitidsarn and of Kodai Naraoka.

Its high time for Indian to spend more time on slow courts, count quality over quantity, in order to not miss any well deserved title in fututre, 

Hello and welcome to Sportz Point's another coverage of India at Paris Olympics 2024 as Indian athletes look to create history in Paris. 

This is Abhishek Goswami and Payal Debnath bringing you all the updates from the web desk.

Lakshya Sen will be in action in the men's singles badminton bronze medal match while Maheshwari Chauhan and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka will be participating in the Skeet Mixed Team qualification. 

Follow us on Twitter for all the updates. Join our Telegram and WhatsApp channels for all the news and scores. 

Read Also | India at Paris Olympics 2024 Day 10 (5th August) Schedule 

The Paris Olympics 2024 started on 26th July with a grand opening ceremony. This time the Olympics is being organized in Paris, the capital of France. For which complete preparations have been made. This time a total of 10,500 athletes are participating in the Olympics 2024. The eyes of these athletes will be on winning medals for their respective countries. 

Read Also: Paris Olympics 2024: Medal winners by dates

From India, 117 athletes have participated in the Olympics. Among these athletes, 72 players are part of the Olympic Games for the first time. The eyes of the entire country are fixed on these athletes. It's time we look at India's schedule on Day 10 (August 5).

On the tenth day of the Paris Olympics 2024, all eyes will be on Lakshya Sen in the men's singles badminton Bronze medal match. The 22-year-old will face Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia for the bronze. Apart from this, India will be seen in action in sports like table tennis, shooting, and archery on Day 10. So, let us tell you in detail which sports Indian athletes will be seen in action on Day 3.

Read Also: Paris Olympics 2024 Day 2 (July 28) Live Updates

India at Paris Olympics 2024: Day 10 (5th August) Schedule 

Shooting

• Skeet Mixed Team (Qualification): Maheshwari Chauhan and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka - 12.30 pm

Table tennis

• Women's Team (Pre-quarterfinal): India vs Romania - 1.30 pm

Sailing

• Women's Dinghy (Opening series): Race 9 - 3.45 pm
• Women's Dinghy (Opening series): Race 10 - 4.53 pm
• Men's Dinghy (Opening series): Race 9 - 6.10 pm
• Men's Dinghy (Opening series): Race 10 - 7.15 pm

Athletics

• Women's 400m (Round 1): Kiran Pahal (Heat 5) - 3.57 pm
• Men's 3,000m Steeplechase (Round 1): Avinash Sable (Heat 2) - 10.50 pm

Badminton

• Men's Singles (Bronze medal playoff): Lakshya Sen vs Zii Jia Lee (Malaysia) - 6.00 pm

Hello and welcome to Sportz Point's another coverage of India at Paris Olympics 2024 as Indian athletes look to create history in Paris. 

Lakshya Sen, Parul Chaudhary, and Jeswin Aldrin will look to create history in badminton and athletics respectively while the Indian men's hockey team Great Britain in the Men's Quarter-final. 

Follow us on Twitter for all the updates. Join our Telegram and WhatsApp channels for all the news and scores. 

Read Also | India at Paris Olympics 2024 Day 9 (4th August) Schedule