World Sports

Badminton World No 1 Lee Chong Wei hinted that retirement was on the horizon after the emotional Malaysian sealed his 10th national championship in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Lee, 31, was in tears after his 21-19, 21-9 victory over Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto, saying this would be his last Malaysian Open. "I have never experienced this kind of pressure before. The first game was tough and Tommy really pushed me hard," Lee told reporters in Malaysia. "The pressure started to build up from the start of this week. I was tense because I wanted to win my 10th and last Malaysian Open badly. "After the win, I could not help but feel emotional. All the burden is off my shoulders now... I feel lighter." Lee won his second Olympic silver medal at the London Games in 2012 after another titanic battle with old advisory Lin Dan of China but said he was unsure about competing again at the grandest stage. The Penang-born Lee said he would attempt to ...

New Delhi: The meteoric rise of Saina Nehwal continued unabated as the ace Indian shuttler moved up one place from third to second in the international badminton rankings. Nehwal is now sandwiched between two Chinese, with Wang Yihan occupying the No.1 spot while Wang Xin lies behind her at No.3 It comes after a hat-trick of titles for Nehwal who recently won the Indian Open Grand Prix, Singapore Open Super Series and Indonesian Open Super Series. This comes as a morale-booster as she prepares for the World Badminton Championships in Paris next month to be followed by the Commmonwealth Games and Asian Games

India’s sensational badminton star Saina Nehwal breaks into the top 10 in the latest Badminton World Federation rankings. She is the second Indian woman to achieve this feat in the history of world badminton. Earlier, Ami M. Ghia broke into the top-10 of the Grand Prix world rankings in 1983. Year 2008 has been great for Saina, which started with the Beijing Olympics at China. She was the quarter finalist in the Women Badminton Event the Olympics and lost to Indonesian Maria Yulianti in a 3-set thriller. However, her achievement was applauded by all Indians as this was the first time any Indian women have reached to the Quarters of Women’s badminton event at Olympics. Then it was in the Chinese Taipei Open Badminton Championship, where Saina beat unseeded Malaysian Li Ya Lydia Cheah 21-8, 21-19 in the final of the GP Gold event at Taipei. This was her second grand prix crown and the first Indian to achieve it. Earlier Saina Nehwal came into limelight with her win during Philippines Ope...