Image credits- BAI
Indian badminton superstar PV Sindhu crashed out of the BWF World Championships with a loss in the per-quarterfinal on Thursday, August 20. The World No. 9 shuttler was seeking her record sixth World Championships medal. However, her dreams came to an end as she fell to China’s world number 3 Wang Zhi Yi in a gruelling three-game thriller 11-21, 21-15, 17-21. Notably, with the two-time World Champion’s exit, India’s contention in women’s singles has come to an end with Unnati Hooda suffering a defeat earlier on Wednesday.
Sindhu made a notable comeback in the second round, after falling 11-21 in the opening round of the high-octane clash, forcing a decider. However, in the final round, momentum shifted towards Zhi Yi when she started to experience some discomfort and took some time-outs on a few occasions. This ended up breaking Sindhu’s rhythm, and eventually the Indian shuttler fell 71-21 to get ousted of the tournament.
Don’t Know if She’s Injured or Not, Maybe that’s her Strategy: PV Sindhu on Rival’s Multiple Breaks
The five-time World Championship Medallist opened up on the frequent time-outs of her rival and said that she didn’t know if it was genuine injury or maybe just a strategy. “I don’t know if she’s injured or not, maybe that is her strategy or her way of doing it. You never know. Maybe that’s her gameplay, but I had to be very focused and very patient and, you know, focus on every point. So, yeah, I think the last three points just changed the game is what I felt. I should have been a little patient,” Sindhu said after the loss.
On the other hand, Ayush Shetty’s campaign also came to an end as he fell to Alwi Farhan. After recording an early 3-0 lead, Shetty’s momentum went out of track, and his opponent took the opportunity to build a lead. While the Indian tried to find his way back in the game, it got too late and Farhan secured a 21-19 win in the first game. In the second game, Farhan closed the set at 21-11, to seal the deal and move ahead in the tournament.
