New Delhi: India have suffered a massive blow in the as PV Sindhu’s hopes of clinching a sixth medal in the event have ended with a 11-21, 21-15, 17-21 defeat against China’s world No. 3 Wang Zhi Yi, who battled severe cramps in both legs to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Sindhu, who was playing at her 11th World Championships, had entered the clash with a 3-5 head-to-head record against Wang. Both players exchanged long and intense rallies in the opening game, but Wang slowly took control as Sindhu made several unforced errors. Both players were at 8-7, but the Chinese player surged ahead 14-9 before spraying one into the net.
Sindhu responded with two sharp cross-court smashes to stay in the game, but another attempt floated long to make it 19-11 in Wang’s favour, who eventually won the game. Sindhu made a strong comeback in the second game and took an early lead, producing some brilliant attacking shots. Wang repeatedly narrowed the gap, and the scores were levelled at 15-15.
The Chinese player then sprayed two shots as Sindhu took a two-point lead. Wang’s long lift gave Sindhu five game points, and the Indian shuttler held her nerve to win the game, forcing a decider. The Indian led 7-4 and later 13-10, but her opponent fought hard as Sindhu made several errors in the third game.
The scores were tied at 16-16, but Wang moved ahead after a gruelling 54-shot rally. Sindhu then hit into the net to hand Wang three match points, and she converted the first opportunity, sealing a memorable win and ending Sindhu’s medal hopes.
Ayush Shetty knocked out
Earlier, suffered a 19-21, 11-21 defeat against Indonesian nemesis Alwi Farhan in the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals. The 21-year-old Shetty, who had delivered brilliant performances by beating defending champion and world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi in the opening round, went down to world No. 12 Farhan.
It was his fifth loss in eight meetings against the 11th-seeded Farhan, ending India’s campaign in men’s singles. Lakshya Sen was also eliminated from the tournament on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, India’s women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand moved one step closer to a medal by reaching the quarterfinals with a straight-game victory against Japanese seventh seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi.
They produced a dominant performance to defeat the world No. 7 Japanese pair 21-16, 21-12 in a one-sided contest. This will be the first quarterfinal appearance by an Indian women’s doubles duo at the World Championships since Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa achieved the milestone in 2015.