Satwik-Chirag return to top 10 in BWF rankings; Lakshya, Unnati climb in singles
The former world No.1 duo, now ranked 10th, lost to the Malaysian pair of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 13-21, 17-21 in the semifinals.
This was their third semifinal appearance on the BWF Tour this season, having earlier reached the last four at the Singapore Open and India Open.
The Indian pair had reclaimed the world No.1 ranking after the title win at the Thailand Open last year.
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Indian Express
9 hours ago
- Indian Express
Two to tango: Annu Rani overhauls her javelin game with changes to angle of throw and run-up
Asian Games gold medallist Annu Rani struggled to get this season going until this week when she crossed the 60m mark for the first time in past one year. The veteran javelin thrower hasn't crossed the 60m mark since May 2025 last year. After winning the Asian Games gold with a 62.92m throw, she recorded just one throw of 60.68m last year in Hylo, Germany. 'I was struggling and it was worrisome. After Asian Games, there was challenge for me to cross the 60m mark. I used to think how I am unable to breach it despite crossing 62m so many times,' says Annu Rani, who just reached Bhubaneswar, Odisha for the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze level event. 'But while training in Europe, I realized that it is part and parcel of an athlete's life. I have been training for so long, so the experience helps in navigating through such tough times,' Annu tells The Indian Express. While training in Europe alongside former Javelin World Champion Johannes Vetter, Annu drew inspiration from his hustle. Vetter, who has a personal best of 97.76m, saw a sharp dip in his form after 2021 but he kept on playing the sport. 'I have learned has so much from Vetter. Training alongside him has been a great learning experience for me. After throwing 97m, he couldn't do much. He dipped to 56m but kept on throwing. He still approaches Javelin with so much passion and aggression,' says Annu. 'When we are working hard and we don't get results, we have to maintain that. And we have to keep practicing. That is the biggest thing,' she adds further. Annu has been training under former Russian thrower and former Olympic medallist Sergey Makarov. Apart from constantly practicing with the same mindset, Annu has also worked with Sergey on her technique with subtle changes. 'It is good working with Sergey. He constantly monitors my practice and tells me what I need to do better,' says Annu. It is tough to make technical changes after throwing in a certain way for many years but Annu has made two small changes which were pointed out by Sergey during the training. 'I have made two changes- change of angle of my throw and how I run while going for the throw,' Annu says. 'I have been throwing javelin from very high angle all these years and coach has now asked me to control my angle so that I achieve better elevation. And during the run up, I am working on my stride length to make the run up to throw very smooth,' Annu explains the changes. At the age of 32, Annu also had to make adjustments with the way she trains. 'Age does make a difference. We have to change our routine as we grow older. When I was younger, I could eat anything and train however I want but now, I follow a tight diet schedule and a tailor-made routine,' Annu explains. 'Overtraining at this age can lead to injury and rehabilitation is not easy thing to do with injuries.' At the World Athletics Continental Tour event in Bhubaneswar, Annu has good chance to qualify for the Worlds as she is placed at 30th rank in the Road to Tokyo. 'I have two good chances to solidify my position as I will play here at the World tour event and then Inter-State. Since I have got my rhythm back, I want to achieve the World Championships qualification,' she concludes. Pritish Raj works with sports team at The Indian Express' and is based out of New Delhi. ... Read More
Indian Express
10 hours ago
- Indian Express
‘Excited to run' Animesh Kujur leads India's pack of sprinters at World Athletics Continental Bronze level tour event
At any athletics meet globally, sprint is the blue-ribbon event but in India the attention is always on Javelin Throw, middle distance running, and jumps. However, for the first-time the eyes will be on the 100m and 200m as the World Athletics Continental Bronze level tour event takes shape for tomorrow at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. The likes of Animesh Kujur, Gurindervir Singh, Manikanta, and Amlan Borgohain have brought the Indian sprinting to headlines with the record breaking spree in 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relays. Currently, Animesh holds the both 100m and 200m record and the quartet holds the 4×100 record. The other reason for the sprint hype is the presence of Malaysian national record holder Muhammad Azeem Fahemi in the 100m who has a personal best of 10.01s (wind-assisted) and holds the Malaysian NR of 10.09s. Fahemi, who trains and competes at the NCAA in the US, ran 10.01s in May this year but it was wind-assisted. He will take on Amlan Borgohain of India who has blown hot and cold this season but will pose a serious threat to Fahemi in his favourable conditions. At the venue in Bhubaneswar, while Amlan does a few sit-ups and Fahemi warms up, the attention turns to Animesh as he is the hot property among the volunteers of the event as they take their turns to click a picture with him. The sprinter from Chhattisgarh has been the leader of the pack as he ran at the coveted Monaco Diamond League in the age-group 200m race alongside Australian prodigy Gout Gout. With the time for World Championships qualification coming to an end on 24th August, Animesh needs to perform well at this event in order to earn ranking points. 'I have been doing well in Europe this season and I am very excited to run in front of my home crowd. It feels good to be back home and run after traveling around the globe,' Animesh tells The Indian Express. Apart from being the first-ever World Athletics Continental Tour event in the nation, it holds important ranking points for Indian athletes eyeing World Championships qualification. One such athlete is triple jumper Abdulla Aboobacker who is currently placed 32nd in the race to World Championships. 'I know I am in the qualification race. A good result here will get me more ranking points to strengthen my qualification,' says Abdulla. On the other end of the warm up area, Sreeshankar Murali is just walking up and down. While he politely refuses to talk to the media before the event, he says, 'This event is very important to me and I have to go all out.' On a comeback trail after missing the Paris Olympics, Sreeshankar needs to breach the qualification mark of 8.27m as he is nowhere close through the ranking gateway. A jet-lagged Annu Rani wants to go past the World Championship qualification mark after finding her rhythm and throwing 62.59m this week in Poland. 'I have been trying hard to get my rhythm back after the Asian Games. I have only thrown at the International events before, it is good to be back and throw in front of the our own people,' she says. Like any other Indian event, Javelin Throw is the most competitive field of the tournament. A continental tour event in India means it is a good exposure for South Asian countries like Sri Lanka. Sumedha Ranasinghe and Rumesh Pathirage, who have already qualified for World Championships, see this tournament as a good warm up for the Worlds. 'It is rare that we have such high-level tournaments in India and the local competition of India is very high. This tournament will serve me well for me in the run-up to the World's,' says Sumedha. Sumedha and Rumesh have personal bests of 85.78m and 85.41m respectively and Indian throwers Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh, Shivam Lohakare will face tough competition from their neighbours. While both Yashvir and Sachin are well placed in the rankings to qualify for the Worlds, a good day might result in them breaking the qualification mark of 85.50m. While Kalinga Stadium has witnessed star power when current Olympic Champion Neeraj Chopra came to compete in the Federation Cup Athletics last year ahead of the Paris Olympics, the continental tour poses different challenges to the organisers. 'There have been certain challenges as we had to fit 19 events in the space of three hours. It is more like a small Asian Athletics Championships that was held here in 2017,' says an AFI official. The successful organization of this event can result in India getting more international events in the near future. 'We have been trying to get the World Continental Tour level event to India for a long time. We wanted to do a silver or a gold level event but World Athletics asked us to start with the bronze level. It is helpful for the aspirations of holding a Diamond League or World Championships in the future,' says Adille Sumariwalla, former AFI president and World Athletics Vice-president. India already conducted a World Athletics Category A level last month when Bengaluru hosted Neeraj Chopra Classic, a Javelin exclusive event. When asked about the aspiration of hosting a World Championship, Adille says,'There are a lot of parameters which World Athletics considers. We want to host this event successfully and upgrade to silver or gold next year.' Athletes to watch out for: India: Animesh Kujur, Sreeshankar Murali, Sachin Yadav, Abdulla Aboobacker, Shaili Singh, Annu Rani Overseas: Muhammed Azeem Fahemi (Malaysia), Sumedha Ranasinghe, Rumesh Pathirage (Sri Lanka), Alice Hopkins (Great Britain) Pritish Raj works with sports team at The Indian Express' and is based out of New Delhi. ... Read More
The Hindu
12 hours ago
- The Hindu
Chance for many aspirants to book their ticket to the Tokyo Worlds
In the absence of several top names, including double Olympic medallist and World champion Neeraj Chopra, due to varied reasons, the focus will be on javelin throwers Annu Rani and Sachin Yadav, long jumpers S. Murali and Shaili Singh and sprinter Animesh Kujur as the Kalinga Stadium is all set to host the country's maiden World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze event here on Sunday. Coincidentally, a good bunch of prominent Indians have been ruled out due to injury or fitness issues. The event, offering a prize money of $25,000 and featuring 156 athletes, including 63 from more than 15 countries, will offer a chance to qualify for the World championships, starting in Japan from September 13. The athletes can do so either through direct qualification or by improving their rankings. For Asian Games gold medallist Annu, who returned from Poland on Friday after achieving her season-best mark of 62.59m, this is a stepping stone for the Worlds. 'The training was good because of which I got such a good distance in Poland after the Asian Games. I will try to improve,' said 32-year-old Annu, who is ranked 30th among top-36 and is set for her fifth World championships. Sachin, who got his season best of 85.16m while claiming the silver in the Asian championships in Korea in May, will be keen to breach the Worlds qualifying mark of 85.50m. 'Despite my ankle issue, I did well (82.33m) in the Neeraj Chopra Classic. I had a good exposure in Europe. I will try to do my best,' said Sachin, who may be challenged by Sri Lankans Rumesh Pathirage and Sumedha Ranashinghe and a host of talented Indians. Kujur, who returned from Europe after giving some fine performances including National marks of 10.18 in 100m and 20.32 in 200m, said he would focus on 200m while trying to stay close to his personal best. Sreeshankar, who has recorded some impressive marks including 8.05m since his comeback from a knee surgery, and Shaili, who has a season best of 6.64m, will also try to punch their tickets to Japan.
