PV Sindhu must give more attention to recovery between matches to win Tokyo medal: Vimal Kumar
PV Sindhu in action against Japan s Akane Yamaguchi at the 2021 All England Open
ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images
World champion PV Sindhu remains India s best Olympic medal prospect but she has to give more attention to her recovery process between matches to achieve the feat at the Tokyo Games, according to former India badminton coach Vimal Kumar.
Sindhu didn t have a good outing in the three events in Thailand in January and even though she reached the finals at Swiss Open and the semifinals at All England, she suffered demoralising losses to Olympic champion Carolina Marin and Thailand s Pornpawee Chochuwong respectively.
Start of All England Open delayed due to inconclusive COVID-19 tests
The start of the All England Open has been delayed by five hours following a significant number of inconclusive COVID-19 test results.
Press Association
The start of the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham on Wednesday has been delayed by five hours following a significant number of inconclusive COVID-19 test results, the organisers announced.
A joint statement issued by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and Badminton England read, Can confirm that a significant number of COVID-19 tests conducted for participating teams at the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships 2021 were deemed inconclusive and as a result, the samples will be rerun. BWF can also confirm that a small number of positive tests were recorded, and in agreement with Public Health England, these cases will be retested. These cases will continue to self-isolate while they are retested.
Carolina Marin routs PV Sindhu in Swiss Open final
EPA/Bagus Indahono
Carolina Marin beat PV Sindhu 21-12, 21-5 in the final of the 2021 Yonex Swiss Open in Basel on Sunday. The World No. 3 from Spain, who has had a sensational start to the year, winning the two Thailand Opens and reaching the final of the World Tour Finals, made short work of the match against the World No. 7 Indian.
The first game started with Marin winning the first point after having started in typical aggressive fashion. But what followed was an exciting passage of play where serve was exchanged at every point until Sindhu won three straight to make it 6-4. This preceded a sequence of five consecutive points won by Marin, with the Spaniard going into the break 11-8 up.
PV Sindhu gets past feisty Blichfeldt to make Swiss Open final
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Shaking off a wobbly start, PV Sindhu scythed past rising Dane Mia Blichfeldt to make her first final since the 2019 World Championships, with a 22-20, 21-10 win at the Swiss Open on Saturday. She will face an old foe, Olympic champion Carolina Marin, in the final. The Jakobshalle arena in Basel where the Super 300 event is being hosted incidentally was also the setting for the Indian s world title conquest.
Blichfeldt showed some strong resistance early in the first game, attacking Sindhu s front court and dictating rallies. There was sufficient reason for caution for Sindhu. In the first Thailand event this year following the pandemic pause, the 23-year old had wrung Sindhu dry in three games. She d also run amok over Saina Nehwal s plans to make a record ninth World Championships quarterfinal appearance in 2019. From three points adrift in the mid-game interval, the reigning European Games champio
Swiss Open W2W4: Tough draw complicates Saina s Tokyo hopes; great chance for Sindhu, Srikanth
With seven events left counting towards Olympic qualification and a tough draw in Basel, Saina Nehwal faces a tough path to making the cut for Tokyo.
Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images for Falcon
The Swiss Open, which began in Basel on Tuesday, is a crucial tournament for badminton players hoping to make it to the Tokyo Olympics - it s the first event since the start of the pandemic that will count towards the Olympic qualification rankings.
As per Olympic qualification rules, each nation can enter a maximum of two entries in each event. The top 16 in singles and top 8 in doubles qualify automatically. The singles events will comprise 38 men and 38 women, while there will be 16 pairs each in the men s, women s and mixed doubles.