Sindhu’s defeat ends India’s challenge
Indian star goes down fighting to Chinese eighthseed He Bingjiao in quarterfinal thriller
Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu crashed out of the Badminton Asia Championships after suffering a heart wrenching defeat at the hands of He Bingjiao of China in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Eighth-seeded Bingjiao defeated Sindhu 15-21, 21-14, 24-22 in a thrilling quarterfinal contest that lasted for 77 minutes at the Wuhan Sports Centre Gymnasium.
The match began after the fourth seeded Indian took the first game 21-15 and looked in phenomenal touch. However, after a brilliant first game win, Sindhu lost the second game 21-14.
In the final and deciding game, the Chinese continued her momentum and raced to a 6-1 lead over her Indian opponent. She then extended the lead to 12-7, but Sindhu staged a strong rally and levelled scores at 15-15.
Both fought hard for each point. But it was the Chinese who eventually held her nerves to win the match, wrapping up the final game 24-22.
Bingjiao will next face Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the semifinals on Saturday.
Sindhu, the 2014 edition bronze medallist, had earlier on Thursday recorded a 21-14, 21-15 win over unseeded Japanese Aya Ohori in the second round match that lasted just 40 minutes. The Indian star had recently won the Indian Open Super Series title, beating Spain’s Olympic Champion Carolina Marin in New Delhi.
The shuttler from Hyderabad was the lone Indian left in the tournament after Ajay Jayaram suffered a second-round defeat against Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Jen Hao.
But now with this loss the Indian contingent’s challenge is over. Compatriot Saina Nehwal had crashed out of the tournament in the first round.