Current Affairs - Badminton

Olympic medallist PV Sindhu won the Singapore Open 2022 title after defeating China's Wang Zhiyi in the final of the women's singles category.

• This is Sindhu's third title of 2022 after Syed Modi International tournament and the Swiss Open 2022 women's singles.
• Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia won the Men’s Singles event.

India’s men’s badminton team beat 14-time champion Indonesia 3-0 in the final to win its maiden Thomas Cup title in its 32^nd edition.

• The biennial international badminton championship was held at Bangkok, Thailand.
• Indian men had previously reached the Thomas Cup semis in 1952, 1955, and 1979.
• India is only the sixth country to win the Thomas Cup.

The Champions

• Lakshya Sen beat Olympic bronze medallist Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the first singles.
• K. Srikanth beat Jonatan Christie in the second singles.
• Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty beat Mohammad Ahsan & Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in the doubles event.

The 2022 Swiss Open badminton tournament took place in St. Jakobshalle at Basel, Switzerland from 22 to 27 March.

Major Winners

• Women’s Singles: Indian badminton star PV Sindhu won Swiss Open 2022 women's singles title with a win over Thailand's Busanan Ongramrungphan. This is the 2nd title for PV Sindhu in Basel, where she won her maiden World Championships title in 2019. This is also the 2nd title of the 2022 season for Sindhu after she won the Syed Modi India International in January.
• Men’s Singles: Jonathan Chritie (Indonesia) beat HS Prannoy (India) to win the title.

The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England.

Men’s Singles

• 2020 Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen, a Danish badminton player won the All England Open 2022.
• In the final World No.1 Viktor Axelsen beat Lakshya Sen (India).
• Lakshya Sen is the only the 5th Indian to reach All England final.
• The Almora shuttler was the first Indian man in 21 years to reach the final of the All England Championships.
• Only 3 Indian men Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980 and 1981) and Pullela Gopichand (2001) have been there and done that before Lakshya. Only Padukone and Gopichand have won the prestigious title for India. Saina Nehwal reached the final in 2015 only to lose to Spanish star Carolina Marin.

Women’s Singles

• Japan's Akane Yamaguchi won the women's singles title, defeating South Korea's An Seyoung in the final.

The 2022 Syed Modi International Badminton Championship was held at Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh from 18 to 23 January 2022.

Winners

• Women’s Singles: Indian shuttler, PV Sindhu beat fellow Indian Malvika Bansod to win her second Syed Modi title after 2017.
• Men’s Singles: Not awarded – as Arnaud Merkle (France) tested positive for Covid and the other finalist, compatriot Lucas Claerbout was also his roommate.
• Mixed Doubles: Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto from India won the Mixed Doubles title.
• Men’s and Women’s Doubles were won by Malaysian pairs.

• The India Open is an annual badminton event held in India since 2008 and is a BWF World Tour Super 500 Grade international badminton tournament.
• This year’s event was held at K. D. Jadhav Indoor Hall, New Delhi.

Highlights

• Men’s Singles: Lakshya Sen (India) defeated world champion Loh Kean Yew (Singapore) to win the title.
• Men’s Doubles: Chirag Shetty /Satwiksairaj Rankireddy from India won their first ever Indian Open finals as they defeated three-time world champions Mohammad Ahsan/ Hendra Setiawan.

Shuttler P V Sindhu won a bronze medal in Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. Sindhu won silver at Rio 2016.

• Sindhu defeated He Bing Jiao of China by 21-13 and 21-15 in the bronze medal match.
• Chen Yu Fei (China) won the gold, while Tai Tzu-Ying (Taiwan) settled for the silver.
• Wrestler Sushil Kumar is the first and only other Indian to win two Olympic medals.

Achievements of Sindhu

• Silver Medal, Rio Olympics 2016
• Gold Medal, CWG 2018 (Team Event)
• Silver Medal, CWG 2018
• Silver Medal, Asian Games 2018
• World Champion, 2019

Awards

• Padma Bhushan (2020)
• Padma Shri (2015)
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (2016)
• Arjuna Award (2013)

• Paralympic-bound shuttler Pramod Bhagat named Differently Abled Sportsman of the Year at Indian Sports Honour for 2019.
• Bhagat won two gold medals and a bronze at the Dubai Para Badminton Tournament this year.
• Founded in 2017, Indian Sports Honours are awards given annually by the RPSG Group in association with the Virat Kohli Foundation to outstanding sports personalities of India.