India's top men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty jumped two places to achieve their career-best world No. 1 rank in the BWF World Rankings on Tuesday. Satwik-Chirag is the first pair from India to achieve this position. The Indian pair topped the rankings after winning the men's doubles gold at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. This was India's first gold medal in badminton in singles, doubles or team event in the Asian Games.

Also Read: India's glorious history in the Asian Games

In addition, Satwik-Chirag is the first Indian pair and fourth national athlete after the legendary Prakash Padukone, Saina Nehwal, and Kidambi Srikanth to achieve this feat. Satwik-Chirag defeated South Korea's Choi Solgyu and Kim Wonho in straight games 21-18, 21-16 to win India's first badminton gold at the Asian Games.

Moreover, this was India's best ever result in badminton at the Asian Games as the men's team won the silver medal and HS Prannoy won the bronze medal, India's first medal in men's singles since Syed Modi in 1982.

Since 2022, this Indian pair has won 5 BWF World Tour titles. It started with the Indian Open title win in January 2022, in which Satwik-Chirag defeated Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 21-16, 26-24. At the end of 2022, Satwik-Chirag also won the French Open title.

Also Read: Asian Games 2023 Medals Tally: India's medals by sport

From 1962 to 2018, India won only one silver and nine bronze medals in badminton at the Asian Games. In Hangzhou, they added gold, silver and bronze medals each, making it the most successful Asian Games for India so far. Satwik and Chirag have now amassed 92,411 points from 18 tournaments this year, over 2,000 points ahead of second-placed Fajar Alfian and Mohammad Rian Ardianto.

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.

Leaving behind the disappointing campaign of the Paris Olympics 2024, veteran Indian female shuttler PV Sindhu is desperate to make a comeback on the badminton court after two months. Now Sindhu will compete in the Arctic Open BWF Super 500 tournament to be held in Finland from 8 to 13 October. 

Also Read: India at Paralympics: Medals by every edition

Sindhu to make a fresh start with new coach

The two-time Olympic medalist has now shifted from Bengaluru to Hyderabad to train with Anup Sridhar. Earlier she was taking training from Prakash Padukone in Bengaluru. Currently, Anup will train PV Sindhu in Hyderabad and will also go to Finland with her.

During Sindhu's campaign in Europe, where she will also compete in the Denmark Open (October 15-20), Sridhar will be accompanying her. Sridhar will also oversee Sindhu's campaign during Asian tour events like Korea, Kumamoto and China Masters.

Returned home empty handed in Paris

Indian star shuttler may not have won a medal in Paris, but her next goal has been decided. Actually, Sindhu won silver medal in 2016 Rio Olympics and bronze medal in 2021 Tokyo Olympics. This happened for the first time in the Paris Games when Sindhu returned to the country without a medal. Her journey ended in the quarter finals itself.

Also Read: India at Olympics: India's Olympic medal tally by every edition

Eye on ending title drought

29-year-old PV Sindhu will be eyeing an end to her two-year-long title drought when she competes in the Arctic Open Super 500 next month. She last won the Singapore Open tournament in 2022. She is currently at number 14 in the world ranking. Sindhu has no intention of retiring. Her next target is Asian Games 2026. 

However, playing in the Los Angeles Olympics 2028 will depend on her fitness. Sindhu will turn 33 by the Los Angeles Olympics. It is not easy to win an Olympic medal at the age of 33 in a sport like badminton. 

Indian badminton player Malvika Bansod continued her brilliant form and entered the Super 1000 quarter-finals for the first time by winning a tough match against her higher ranked opponent Kirsty Gilmour at the China Open 2024 in Changzhou on Thursday.

Also Read: India at Paralympics: Medals by every edition

Malvika Bansod, BWF ranking 43rd, toiled hard for one hour and five minutes before defeating two-time Commonwealth Games medalist and world number 25 Gilmour of Scotland 21-17 19-21 21-16 in the women's singles round-of-16 match.

Earlier defeated Paris Olympics bronze medalist

The 23-year-old player achieved this victory a day after defeating the Paris Olympics 2024 bronze medalist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia. 

However, Malvika Bansod, the only Indian shuttler left in the competition, faces a tough challenge as she will face fourth seed and two-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the last eight stage.

Although the Japanese shuttler has won both the matches against Malvika, the Indian shuttler came close to defeating  Yamaguchi and she is hopeful that she will be able to register victory this time.

Malvika's sensational performance in pre-quarterfinals

In the opening game against Gilmour, Malvika was down 11-5 at the break. The Indian shuttler brought down the deficit to two points at 16-14 and then won seven of the next eight points to go one game up in the contest. Gilmour, drew on her experience to mount a comeback and close a tight second game.

Malvika surged to an eight-point lead at 10-2 in the decider. She later extended her advantage to 20-11. Gilmour fought back with five consecutive points to make it 20-16 but the late fightback proved too little for Malvika, who comfortably sealed her spot in the quarter-finals.

The countdown for the Paris Olympics 2024 has started and groups have been decided for the badminton event, in which two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and Thomas Cup champion HS Prannoy have got a place in the easy group. The group stage draw was held at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday. Badminton events in the Olympics will start from July 27.

Also Read: India's schedule in Paris Olympics 2024 by sports

Sindhu may face Bingjao's challenge

World No. 12 badminton player has been seeded 10th and placed in Group M of women's singles along with Kristin Kuuba of Estonia (world ranking 75) and Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq of Maldives (world ranking 111). Sindhu, who won a silver medal in the Rio Games and then a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics, may face a challenge from sixth seed He Bingjao in the pre-quarterfinals.

Prannoy seeded 13th

HS Prannoy, who is making his Olympic debut, has been seeded 13th and placed in Group K of men's singles along with Vietnam's Le Duc Phat (world ranking 70) and Germany's Fabian Roth (world ranking 82). 

Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen, ranked 19th in the world rankings, has been included in Group L. Apart from third-seeded Jonatan Christie of Indonesia (3), Kevin Cordon of Guatemala (41) and Julien Carraggi of Belgium (52) are in the unseeded target group. If Prannoy and Lakshya top their group, they will face each other in the pre-quarterfinals.

Also Read: Indian Debutants to watch out for in Paris Olympics 2024

Tanisha-Ashwini got a difficult group

The Indian pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, ranked 19th in the world rankings, have got a place in the difficult Group C in women's doubles. In this group, apart from the world-ranking fourth pair of Japan's Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida, Tokyo Olympics bronze medalists Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong of South Korea (world ranking seven) and Setyana Mapasa and Angela Yu of Australia are included (world ranking 27).

Men's doubles receive favourable draw

The star Indian men's pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty is being considered as a medal contender. This pair has been given third seed in the men's doubles event. Satwik-Chirag has received a favorable draw as they have been clubbed in group C where Indonesia's world number six combination of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto will be their toughest opponent. Satwik and Chirag also will have to compete with the world No. 31 German combination of Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel and world No. 43 Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar of France in the group.

There are no Indian teams in the mixed doubles badminton competition.

Paris Olympics 2024 Badminton: Draw for Indian Players

Women’s singles

Group M: PV Sindhu (India), Kristin Kuuba (Estonia), Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq (Maldives)

Men’s singles

Group K: HS Prannoy (India), Le Duc Phat (Vietnam), Fabian Roth (Germany)

Group L: Lakshya Sen (India), Jonatan Christie (Indonesia), Kevin Cordon (Guatemala), Julien Carraggi (Belgium)

Women’s doubles

Group C: Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa (India), Nami Matstuyama-Chiharu Shida (Japan), Kim So Yeong-Kong Hee Yong (South Korea), Setyana Mapasa-Angela Wu (Australia)

Men’s doubles

Group C: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (India), Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Indonesia), Mark Lamsfuss-Marvin Seidel (Germany), Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar (France)

India's star badminton player Lakshya Sen reached the men's singles quarter-finals of the Indonesia Open 2024 BWF Super 1000 tournament by defeating Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in Jakarta on Thursday.

Also Read: Singapore Open 2024: India's campaign ends as Treesa-Gayatri loses in the semifinals

Sen defeated Nishimoto 21-9, 21-15 in the Indonesia Open 2024 pre-quarterfinals.

Treesa-Gayatri's journey ended

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, however, were eliminated from the Indonesia Open 2024 after losing in the women's doubles. They had to face defeat 21-19, 19-21, 19-21 at the hands of Japan's Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara.

Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa bowed out from the Indonesia Open 2024 tournament after a hard-fought battle against South Korea's Ha Na Baek and So-Hee Lee. In mixed doubles, B Sumeeth Reddy and Sikki Reddy also lost to top seeds Siwei Zheng and Yaqiong Huang of China.

PV Sindhu suffered an early exit

Earlier, PV Sindhu suffered an early exit in the Indonesia Open 2024 after losing to Hsu Wen-chi from Chinese Taipei in the opening round. This unexpected loss marked Sindhu's first-ever defeat to Wen-chi

It was a disappointing outcome for Sindhu, who had previously exited the Indonesia Open in the Second Round last year. This proves to be a significant setback to her preparations for Paris Olympics 2024, where she aims to secure her third Olympic medal.

Also Read: Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu to train abroad, Mission Olympics Cell gives approval

In the men's singles, Priyansh Rajawat will take on Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand, the reigning world champion and the gold medallist in last year's World Championships.

A total of 64 singles players and 96 doubles teams from across the globe, including as many as 6 singles players and 4 doubles pairs from India are competing at the BWF World Tour Super 1000 event.