From the electrifying victory of the Indian cricket team in the recent T20 series to the rising star power of young badminton sensations, India's sporting landscape is ablaze with action! This week alone saw record-breaking performances in the Pro Kabaddi League, showcasing the nation's unwavering passion for indigenous sports. The upcoming Asian Games are generating immense anticipation, with athletes across disciplines sharpening their skills and aiming for glory on the international stage. We delve into the crucial role of sports sponsorships in nurturing talent and boosting India's sporting infrastructure. Furthermore, debates rage on about the future of cricket's dominance in India's sporting ecosystem, with other sports like hockey and football vying for increased attention and investment. Stay updated on all the latest scores, match analyses, and exclusive interviews with your favorite athletes. Explore the dynamic world of Indian sports—from the bustling stadiums to the quiet dedication of rising stars—right here. Discover the stories that shape the nation’s sporting spirit and witness the unfolding drama of the sporting year.
World No. 9 Indian pair squander one-game lead and lose to sixth-ranked Chinese duo. IMAGE: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were beaten by China's Olympic silver medallists Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the final of the Hong Kong Open Super 500 on Sunday. Photograph: Kind Courtesy BWF Official/Instagram India's top men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty signed off with a runners-up finish after going down narrowly to China's Olympic silver medallists Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the final of the Hong Kong Open Super 500 on Sunday. The world No. 9 Indians, who bagged a second successive World Championships bronze last month, squandered a one-game lead and were beaten 21-19, 14-21, 17-21 by the sixth-ranked Chinese duo after 61 tense minutes. It was their first final appearance in 16 months since winning the Thailand Open, and the loss ended their perfect record in Super 500 finals, having won all four they had contested earlier. The Indians, who have reached six semi-finals this season, had a 3-6 head-to-head record against Liang and Wang coming into the match. They had beaten them at the World Championships in Paris. However, Satwik and Chirag failed to sustain the momentum after pocketing the opener and, having conceded an inexplicable 2-11 deficit in the decider, were left chasing the game. The opening game turned into a thriller with Satwik and Chirag matching the Chinese pair shot for shot. Chirag unleashed booming smashes early on to erase a 0-2 deficit and give India a 9-8 edge. At 10-10, a wide shot from the Indians was neutralised by a Liang error before another Chirag smash ensured a slender advantage at the break. The Indians went on the offensive after the interval, moving to 13-11 with a series of ferocious smashes. Satwik's body attack on Wang, followed by a flat, fast exchange and a sharp Chirag serve, pushed them four points clear. The Chinese clawed back with four straight points in a tight front-court battle as the Indians committed costly net errors. A controversial call, where Wang appeared to strike the shuttle before it crossed the net, gave them an 18-17 lead, only for India to respond immediately. Satwik's thunderous smash levelled things at 19-19, and when Liang went wide, the Indians earned a game point. Chirag then produced a precision serve on the line to seal a pulsating opener. The Chinese pair stormed back in the second game, with Wang dazzling from the back court to open up an 8-2 lead. India closed the gap briefly through a Wang service error and a long shot, but a fault called on Satwik for a high serve and a deft Liang forehand at the net saw the Chinese go into the mid-game interval with an 11-6 cushion. With the drift aiding them, Liang and Wang's smashes carried extra sting as they stretched the lead to 13-7. A sharp serve and follow-up smash allowed the Indians to reduce the margin to 10-13, before Chirag's block-and-net play brought it down to 12-14. However, a couple of errors from Chirag gave the Chinese breathing space at 17-12. A booming smash then handed them six game points, and they levelled the match when Satwik pushed one wide. The momentum firmly stayed with Liang and Wang in the decider as they raced to a 5-0 lead, leaving Satwik and Chirag scrambling for answers. A service fault on Liang briefly halted the run, but the Chinese regained control quickly, capitalising on India's coordination errors to move 8-1 ahead. When Chirag found the net, Liang and Wang went into the final interval with a commanding 11-2 advantage. The Indians mounted a late fightback, saving three match points to close the gap to 17-20, but a wayward return eventually sealed the contest in favour of the Chinese pair. Later in the day, Lakshya Sen will be fighting for the men's singles title, taking on familiar foe in Li Shi Feng at the Hong Kong Coliseum.
New Delhi, Jan 17 (PTI) The Indian women's team produced a clinical performance to crush Bangladesh by a huge margin of 109-16 and book their spot in the semifinals of the Kho Kho World Cup here on Friday. Led by captain Priyanka Ingle, India dominated the contest throughout all four turns, including an impressive dream run in turn 2 that lasted over five minutes and continued to record 100 or more points for the fifth time in a row. Also Read | India Open 2025: PV Sindhu, Kiran George Knocked Out; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty Storm into Semifinals. India were dominant from the be ...Read More >
Hyderabad: Tanvi Sharma (16) became the youngest Indian shuttler to make it into the final of a BWF World Tour event at the US Open Super 300 on Saturday night. She outplayed seventh-seeded Polina Buhrova of Ukraine in the semi-final of the tournament, beating her opponent in straight games (21-14, 21-16) in 34 minutes. With the triumph, she became the first Indian to reach a BWF World Tour event final this year. She will now face top seed Beiwen Zhang of the USA in the final of the event. Zhang beat Line Christophersen in the other semi-final with scores of 18-21, 21-16, 21-15. Tanvi is cur ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], September 1 (ANI): The BWF World Championships will return to India after 17 years with the capital city, New Delhi, chosen to host the 30th edition in August 2026. The announcement was made during the closing ceremony of the 2025 Championships in Paris, where a handover took place between BWF president Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, Frank Laurent, president of the Federation Francaise de Badminton, and Sanjay Mishra, honorary general secretary of the Badminton Association of India, as per a press release from BAI Media. Also Read | AFG 19/1 in 4 Overs | United Arab Emirat ...Read More >
New Delhi, April 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has mourned the passing of its former president and honorary life vice president, Craig Reedie, who died on Monday at age 84. Craig also served as an honorary member and former vice president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), establishing himself as a key figure in global sports governance. Throughout his career, he held several influential roles, including President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Chair of the British Olympic Association, Vice President of the European Badminton Union, and President ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], July 14 (ANI): Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen along with men doubles pair of Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be seen in action in the upcoming Japan Open 2025 badminton tournament which will start from Tuesday, July 15. Sindhu, Lakshya and the Sat-Chi duo were last seen at the Indonesia Open in early June. All three skipped the subsequent US Open and Canada Open, as per Olympics.com. Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, has had a challenging 2025 BWF World Tour season. The double Olympic medallist best showing on the BWF World Tour this year came a ...Read More >
Vadodara, Jan 17 (PTI) Karun Nair's exploits in the Vijay Hazare Trophy was on Friday termed "nothing short of extraordinary" by batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, who urged the Vidarbha skipper to "keep going." Nair has been on a roll in India's premier 50-over domestic competition, averaging a mind-boggling 752 in seven innings after amassing 752 runs with five centuries and one fifty. Also Read | 'Every Moment Was Like a Dream': Kartik Aaryan Captures Dream Moment With President Droupadi Murmu and Murlikant Petkar at Rashtrapati Bhavan. "Scoring 752 runs in 7 innings with 5 centuries is no ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], January 17 (ANI): Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stayed on course for their second consecutive India Open final with a straight games win over Korea's Yong Jin and Kang Min Hyuk in the men's doubles quarterfinals while PV Sindhu and Kiran George were knocked out of the BWF World Tour Super 750 event at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall on Friday. Satwik and Chirag were at their dominant best in their quarter-final encounter against South Korea's Yong Jin and Kang Min Hyuk, winning 21-10, 21-17. However, it was a heartbreak for the other Indians in the ray with Sindhu goi ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], July 14 (ANI): Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen along with men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be seen in action in the upcoming Japan Open 2025 badminton tournament which will start from Tuesday, July 15. Sindhu, Lakshya and the Sat-Chi duo were last seen at the Indonesia Open in early June. All three skipped the subsequent US Open and Canada Open, as per Olympics.com. Also Read | Wimbledon 2025 Winners: A Look at Champions at Year's Third Grand Slam. Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, has had a challenging 2025 BWF World Tour se ...Read More >
New Delhi, Oct 15: Ahmedabad was on Wednesday recommended as the proposed host of the 2030 Commonwealth Games by Commonwealth Sport's Executive Board, paving the way for the big event's return to India after two decades and bolstering its ambition to be an Olympic host in 2036. A final decision, which now seems a mere formality, will be taken on November 26 at the body's General Assembly in Glasgow after the recommendation is sent to the full membership of Commonwealth Sport. India had hosted the Games for the first time back in 2010 in New Delhi. Getting the Games' hosting rights would also b ...Read More >
HONG KONG: India's Lakshya Sen entered his first major final in two years after edging out Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen in straight games, while the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also stormed into the summit clash here on Saturday. The 23-year-old from Almora, a 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, ended a long wait for a title shot with a fighting 23-21, 22-20 win over world No.9 and third seed Chou in a gruelling 56-minute semifinal. The Commonwealth Games champion had last won a Super 500 tournament at the Canada Open in July 2023. He also clinc ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jan 13 (VOICE) The Indian men's doubles badminton duo of Satwik and Chirag expressed their joy of reuniting with Tan Kim Her as a coach and revealed their emotional bond with the Malaysian doubles specialist, who was the person behind the making of the "deadly duo" of Satwik and Chirag back in 2016.Tan took over from Danish Olympic medallist Mathias Boe, who announced his retirement from coaching roles post the Paris 2024 Olympics, where Satwik and Chirag reached the quarterfinals. Speaking about the return of the Malaysian doubles specialist, who had a successful four-year spell f ...Read More >
IMAGE: Tharun Mannepalli has now reached his first semifinal in a BWF 300 tournament. Photograph: Kind courtesy India AllSports/X India's Tharun Mannepalli advanced to the men's singles semifinals of the Macau Open Super 300 badminton tournament after a hard-fought win over China's Hu Zhe in Macau on Friday. The 23-year-old, ranked 47th in the world, showcased speed and a versatile shot selection to edge out World No 87 Hu, 21-12 13-21 21-18 in a 75-minute battle. This marks Mannepalli's maide ...Read More >
MARTOLI, India (AP) -- Dozens of dilapidated stone buildings are what is left of the once-thriving border village of Martoli, in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. Nestled in Johar Valley and surrounded by Himalayan peaks -- the most notable being Nanda Devi, once considered the tallest mountain in the world -- this village had traded sugar, lentils, spices and cloth for salt and wool with Tibetans across the border. The nomadic occupants of several villages spent the winter months in the plains collecting goods to be traded with Tibetans in the summer. But the border was sealed after ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], December 11 (ANI): The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has announced the return of Malaysian doubles specialist Tan Kim Her for a second stint with the Indian badminton team, ahead of the 2026 Asian Games and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. In a press release issued on Wednesday, the BAI stated, "The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has appointed Malaysian doubles specialist Tan Kim Her to work with the national team for the second time." Tan, instrumental in pairing the now-superstar duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy during his first tenure with Ind ...Read More >
Mumbai, September 13: India's top men's doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, finally found a breakthrough in what has been a challenging year, storming into the final of the Hong Kong Open Super 500 with a dominant straight-game victory on Saturday. The World No. 9 duo defeated the unseeded pair from Chinese Taipei, Bing-Wei Lin and Chen Cheng Kuan, with a commanding 21-17, 21-15 win, ending a streak of six consecutive semifinal losses in 2025. Hong Kong Open 2025: Lakshya Sen Overcomes Ayush Shetty in All-Indian Quarterfinal Clash. Seeded eighth in the tournament, Satwik ...Read More >
India's top seeded Tanvi Sharma produced a near-perfect match against China's Liu Si Ya to storm into the final of the BWF World Junior Champions in Guwahati on Saturday. The 16-year-old Tanvi followed the footsteps of former world No.1 Saina Nehwal and Aparna Popat to become only the third Indian female player to qualify for the final of the tournament, recording a 15-11, 15-9 win over her opponent. Tanvi will now play against the second-seeded Anyapat Phichitpreechasak from Thailand, who fought ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], August 13 (ANI): Indian shuttler PV Sindhu will lock horns with Bulgaria's Kaloyana Nalbantova, whereas Lakshya Sen will play Shi Yuqi of China in their respective round one matches of the BWF World Championships 2025, which will take place later this month. Organised by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the BWF World Championships is the most prestigious badminton competition held annually, barring the Olympic years, as per Olympics.com. It offers the most badminton world ranking points along with the Olympics and crowns the senior world champions of a particular cale ...Read More >
CHENNAI: The wait is finally over for Indian badminton. In the wee hours (IST) on Monday, shuttler Ayush Shetty pulled off a noteworthy victory at the Mid America Centre in the USA. The 20-year-old from Karnataka captured India's first title of the season on BWF World Tour. The lanky shuttler, who stands 6 feet, 4 inches tall, capped off his eye-catching run in the US Open, a Super 300 event, with a straight-games (21-18, 21-13) win over Brian Yang of Canada in the final. Given the current landscape of Indian badminton, Ayush's title is massive. Ayush is one of the youngsters who's looking t ...Read More >
New Delhi: This has been one of the driest seasons in recent times in terms of titles won by Indian shuttlers. Barring the US Open crown that Ayush Shetty clinched in June, no one has stood on the top step of the podium on the BWF World Tour this year. But on Sunday Lakshya Sen and the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will have a chance to make amends as both stormed into the final of the $500,000 Hong Kong Open on Saturday. Lakshya has had a pretty average season with eight first round exits in 13 competitions, having dropped to world No.20. But the 24-year-ol ...Read More >
Malaysian coach Tan Kim Her, who first brought together India's celebrated pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, returns to India taking charge of the doubles teams. Coach Tan reached Hyderabad Sunday night, Satwik confirmed on the sidelines of Go Sports Awards in Mumbai. Advertisement https://images.indianexpress.com/2020/08/1x1.png Tan replaces Danish Mathias Boe who took the Indians to the pinnacle of world rankings and helped them win the Asian Games gold ad Thomas Cup besi ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jan 17 (VOICE) While India's top hope in women's singles, P.V Sindhu made a premature exit, the men's doubles combine of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty kept the Tricolour fluttering by reaching the semifinals of the India Open BWF Super 750 event here on Friday.On a day on which India's campaign in singles came to an end with the defeat of Sindhu in women's singles and Kiran George in men's, Asian Games gold medallists Satwik and Chirag stayed on course for their second consecutive final with straight games win over Korea's Yong Jin and Kang Min Hyuk in the men's doubles ...Read More >
IMAGE: India's Ayush Shetty, seeded fourth, will face Kuan Lin Kuo of Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals of the men's singles event at the US Open 2025 badminton tournament in Iowa. Photograph: BAI Media/X Ace Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty and Tanvi Sharma marched into the quarterfinals of the US Open 2025 badminton tournament in Iowa after registering contrasting victories in their second-round fixtures. World No. 34 Ayush Shetty fought hard to get the better of compatriot and World No. 54 Tharun Mannepalli. The fourth-seeded Shetty won the contest 21-12, 13-21, 21-15. In the quarterfinal ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: Ayush Shetty has been able to achieve what no other Indian shuttler has managed so far -- win a BWF World Tour title in 2025. PV Sindhu has been far from winning one. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty only managed to reach the semis. Former world No.1 Kidambi Srikanth came the closest when he made the Malaysia Masters final in May. The deadlock ended when the 20-year-old Shetty stood on the top step of the podium in Council Bluffs, Iowa on Sunday after winning the $240,000 US Open men's singles crown. The second highest ranked Indian shuttler after Lakshya Sen (world No.20 ...Read More >
Solo , India notched up a 110-69 win over Sri Lanka in their Group D clash to kick off their campaign on a positive note at the Badminton Asia Junior Mixed Team championships here on Friday. The mixed doubles combination of Vishnu Kode and Reshika U began India's march with an 11-5 win over Keneth Aruggoda and Isuri Attanayake in the relay point system where a team had to bag 110 points to win the match. Sisters Gayatri and Mansa Rawat then extended India's lead to 22-14 against Attanayake and ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], September 1 (ANI): The BWF World Championships will return to India after 17 years with the capital city, New Delhi, chosen to host the 30th edition in August 2026. The announcement was made during the closing ceremony of the 2025 Championships in Paris, where a handover took place between BWF president Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, Frank Laurent, president of the Federation Francaise de Badminton, and Sanjay Mishra, honorary general secretary of the Badminton Association of India, as per a press release from BAI Media. India selection reflects its transformation into one ...Read More >
BENGALURU: On a day when Lakshya Sen, the recent All England Open finalist, suffered defeat in the first round of the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, Ayush Shetty gave India fresh hope. Shetty didn't just step up -- he produced a statement win. The rising star from Karnataka tore through the event with a performance that stunned World No 7 Li Shi Feng ruthlessly. The reigning Hong Kong Open champion was dismantled 21-13, 21-16 in a match that never slipped out of Shetty's control. There was a noticeable edge to his backhand, and smashes which looked sharper and more reliable c ...Read More >