KUALA LUMPUR: One of the first legacy initiatives undertaken by Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria following his election as Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) vice-president for Southeast Asia was the establishment of an Asian High Performance Badminton Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) in a statement said Mohamad Norza who is also OCM president has initialy proposed the idea to the Director General of OCA, Captain Husain Al-Musallam during his working visit to Kuala Lumpur on May 1, last year. The statement emphasized that Husain Al-Musallam was highly impressed with the state-of-the-art facilities within the Akademi…

Sep 09, 2024 04:57 PM IST Saina Nehwal had hit the headlines for comments she had made about India’s campaign at the Paris Olympics. Saina Nehwal broke a glass ceiling for Indian badminton at the 2012 London Olympics by winning the bronze medal. She was the first player from the country to have won an Olympic medal and her rise is seen as the starting point of India’s elevation to where the country is right now in international badminton. Badminton ace Saina Nehwal in Mumbai on Friday. (HT Photo)(HT_PRINT) Saina had recently hit the headlines when she was providing her…

Second seed Pranay Katta of Rajasthan stunned top seed Lakshay Sharma by logging a comeback win to bag the men’s title on the concluding day of the Yonex-Sunrise North Zone Interstate Badminton Championships at the Sector 38 Sports Complex here.Pranay lost the first game 8-21, only to return in the next second 21-8. In the decider, both players played at par until Pranay marched ahead to win the title with a score of 21-18.Delhi’s Rishika Nandi won the women’s title in an identical manner over Unnati Jaral from Jammu & Kashmir. Rishika lost the first game 15-21 and bounced back…

PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Justin Hoh has to work on his strength and mentality if he wants to go further in his World Tour Super 500 debut at the Hong Kong Open on Tuesday. Justin, who lost to homester Chou Tien-chen in the quarter-finals of the ongoing Super 300 Taiwan Open, learnt that he lacked both qualities when playing against the world No. 9. Finding his rhythm: Justin Hoh won gold for Federal Territories in the Malaysia Games last month. “I need to improve a lot in terms of my strength and mentality. This is what I learned mostly…

Paris Olympian Tanisha Crasto and her partner Dhruv Kapila were knocked out of the Taipei Open 2024 badminton mixed doubles event after losing to Thailand’s Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Phataimas Muenwong in the quarter-finals on Friday. The Indian pair, 97th in the badminton rankings, went down 22-20, 21-12 against the 28th-ranked Thai duo in 31 minutes. The loss ended India’s challenge at the BWF Super 300 event. Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila made a strong start, leading 7-4 in the first game. They appeared poised to take the opener with a 19-16 advantage but their higher-ranked opponents rallied to win six…

Kimi Raikkonen’s former performance coach Mark Arnall once “pissed” the Finnish former driver after defeating him in badminton. Arnall recently shared the details of the same when he appeared as a guest on the Pitlane Life Lesson podcast. Arnall revealed that it was Raikkonen’s mom who explained to him how “pissed” the Ferrari former driver was after his loss. According to Arnall, Raikkonen’s mom said, “What did you do to Kimi? He came back and threw his bag in the corner, slammed the door in his bedroom, and said, don’t disturb me. He was so pissed off he lost“. Since…

Japan won its first Paralympic gold medal in wheelchair rugby Monday after seeing off the United States 48-41 in Paris, with the nation adding two badminton gold on the day to make it five total at the ongoing games. The bronze medalist both at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021, Japan led 24-23 at halftime and widened the gap in the third and fourth periods in the mixed-gender wheelchair rugby final at Champ-de-Mars Arena. Japan’s Katsuya Hashimoto led the match with 19 tries and teammate Yukinobu Ike got 16, while Chuck Aoki and Sarah Adam each scored…

PETALING JAYA: Women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah pulled off a sensational win over top seeds and home favourites Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee to march into the final of the Korean Open on Merdeka Day. The world No. 9 played brilliantly to come away with a 21-18, 21-13 win over the world No. 2 Koreans in Mokpo on Saturday (Aug 31). It was sweet revenge for Pearly-Thinaah, who lost to Ha-na-So-hee twice last year in the Malaysian Masters final and last eight of the Hangzhou Asian Games. Pearly-Thinaah have now reached their first final this year and will take on another…

Text size Canada badminton player Yuka Chokyu said on Friday her experience was an advantage at the Paralympics despite being twice as old as the title holder in her category. Chokyu, who turns 58 in December, is out of contention for a medal this time after two opening group stage defeats. She may lack medals, but she compensates in longevity — she is appearing at her fourth Games, having taken part in wheelchair tennis in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 editions. “I’m facing all the youngsters,” Chokyu told reporters. “They are strong so I have to use my brain and…

PARIS: National para badminton ace, Cheah Liek Hou opened his men’s singles SU5 (physical impairment) gold medal defence on a bright note on the first day of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, here, today. In a Group A match held in Porte de la Chapelle Arena, the world number one player and top seed proved to be too hot to handle for Polish shuttler, Bartlomiej Mroz, as the Malaysian cruised to a 21-10, 21-6 victory in 26-minutes. Meanwhile, another Malaysian shuttler, Muhammad Fareez Anuar, who played in the same category, made an impressive debut at the Games here as he…