17-year-old Unnati Hooda from Haryana stunned Indian badminton by defeating her idol PV Sindhu at the China Open 2025. Here’s how the young prodigy went from playing in parks to winning major titles and making history.
The 17-year-old defeated two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu 21-16, 19-21, 21-13 in 73 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals of a Super 1000 event for the first time in her career. She faces two-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi in her last-8 clash.
HS Prannoy produced a stunning comeback, saving five match points to beat Japan’s Koki Watanabe in the opening round of the China Open Super 1000. Lakshya Sen and Anupama Upadhyay suffered early exits as Indian shuttlers endured a mixed day in Changzhou.
At least eight Indian athletes have missed out on the World University Games after alleged administrative blunders such as incorrect name entries. The incident has sparked outrage across the sports community.
Lakshya Sen, the biggest Indian name in men's singles badminton, is experiencing a horrendous 2025, suffering multiple early exits in the tournaments. Coach Vimal Kumar explains what is wrong with Sen's game.
Lakshya Sen and the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty exited the second round of the Super 750 badminton tournament on Thursday after inconsistent run.
Indian badminton stars Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, and Lakshya Sen open up on battling injuries and niggles ahead of the 2025 World Championships.
At 30, PV Sindhu is experiencing the toughest phase of her career, having made five first-round exits in 2025. She lost to Korea's Sim Yu Jin in the Japan Open Super 750 tournament on Wednesday.
Announcing separation from husband Parupalli Kashyap, Saina Nehwal on Instagram wrote, 'I'm grateful for the memories and wish nothing but the best moving forward.'
Ayush Shetty has made headlines with his 2025 US Open win, his first BWF World Tour title. Ayush is India's second-highest ranked player and trains at Prakash Padukone Academy in Bengaluru. Learn about the country's new badminton prodigy, who is making waves across the world.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out of the Indonesia Open 2025 after losing to Malaysia’s Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun in the quarterfinals. The Indian pair, champions in 2023, lost in straight games.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Open 2025, while PV Sindhu lost a close three-game battle in the second round. Other Indian shuttlers also bowed out on a disappointing day.
Satwik and Chirag showed little signs of rust in their first game since their injury-forced exit from the All England Championships in March, defeating Malaysia's Choong Hon Jian and Muhammad Haikal 21-16 21-13 in just under 40 minutes in the Round of 32.
India suffered a second defeat in as many games in the 2025 Sudirman Cup, getting outplayed by Indonesia 1-4 two days after a loss to Denmark by a similar scoreline. This despite a strong start provided by Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila, who fought back from a game down to win their mixed doubles tie.
From winning medals at the Olympics and World Championships on a regular basis thanks to the rise of the Saina and Sindhus and Srikanths to struggling to make an impact in the last couple of years, Indian badminton has undergone a serious decline.
Tanisha Crasto and Shruti Mishra's 21-13, 21-18 victory over Natasja Anthonisen and Alexandra Boje in the women's doubles tie was the only bright spot in what was otherwise a disappointing performance by Indian shuttlers in their Group D meeting with Denmark.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the men's doubles pair that had won Asian Games gold and world championships bronze in 2022, had earlier been included in a 14-strong Indian squad for the Sudirman Cup alongside PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy.
Indian badminton star Sankar Subramanian Muthusamy stunned World No. 2 Anders Antonsen in Round of 16 at the Swiss Open 2025 before bowing out in the quarterfinals. Learn more about Sankar's journey to the top and his career achievements.
India's women's doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand stormed into the Swiss Open 2025 quarterfinals with a dominant win over Germany's Amelie Lehmann and Selin Hubsch. Meanwhile, Priyanshu Rajawat and Kidambi Srikanth suffered defeats in men's singles.
Kidambi Srikanth edged past HS Prannoy with a 23-21, 23-21 victory, displaying composure at crucial moments. Meanwhile, Isharani Barua fought back to secure an 18-21, 21-17, 22-20 win, advancing to the second round of the USD 250,000 event.
India's Lakshya Sen and the women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand crashed out of the All England Badminton Championships 2025 after quarterfinal losses. With their exits, India's campaign at the prestigious Super 1000 tournament comes to an end.
India's Lakshya Sen defeated world No. 2 Jonatan Christie to enter the All England Championships quarterfinals, while Malvika Bansod and Satwik-Chirag bowed out.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu suffered an early exit from the All England Open Badminton Championships for a fourth year running after suffering a 21-19, 13-21, 13-21 defeat at the hands of South Korea's Kim Ga-eun.
Badminton legend and national coach Pullela Gopichand had recently courted controversy for stating that only those who hail from affluent backgrounds should take up sport as a profession. In an exclusive conversation with Firstpost's Rupha Ramani, 'Gopi' explains his statement.
The High Court of Karnataka on Monday rejected petition calling for quashing of criminal proceedings against Lakshya Sen, whose birth certificates were allegedly fabricated by his parents.
Badminton legend and Dronacharya Award-recipient Pullela Gopichand had recently advised aspiring athletes in India to avoid taking up sport as a career unless they came from a well off background.
Indian shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy's father, R Kasi Viswanatham, passed away due to cardiac arrest while en route to witness his son receive the Khel Ratna Award. Satwik has reportedly left for Andhra Pradesh to be with his grieving family.
PV Sindhu has withdrawn from the 2025 Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in China after she sustained a hamstring injury while training in Guwahati last week.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has announced that it will be experimenting a new 3×15 scoring system in selected competitions from April 2025. The badminton governing body feels shorter matches will help in attracting new fans and tackle rising injury concerns.
India's doubles duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out of the India Open Super 750 in the semifinals, falling in straight games to Malaysia's Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin on Saturday.