India’s PV Sindhu lost her perfect record against Chinese shuttlers at the World Championships after a loss against World No 3 Wang Zhi Yi of China in the round of 16 in New Delhi yesterday (Aug 20)
This is Sindhu’s first loss against a Chinese shuttler after winning on eight previous occasions.
The first game was a tale of two halves.
Before the mid-game break, both shuttlers decided not to give away any easy points. Wang made Sindhu work hard on her drops while Sindhu gave no space for Wang to produce a precise smash.
Wang led 11-8 at the mid-game break but after the break, Sindhu made six unforced errors
Wang stunned the home crowd by overcoming severe cramps to down ninth-seeded Sindhu 21-11, 15-21, 21-17 despite severely cramping in the deciding game and stun the home crowd.
With scores level at 16-16 in game three, Wang slipped and winced in pain before taking some treatment for cramps.
The Chinese went down again at 19-17, but this time got back to get the winners as she fell flat on the court in relief and joy.
“Obviously it was such a tough match today,” said Wang. “I think she is very strong opponent and has very fast attacks. My gameplan worked and I am proud of my performance today.”
On her cramps, Wang said, “That moment I just told myself to keep going. Never give up - that’s it.”
Sindhu added: “I don’t know if she was injured or not. Maybe that’s her strategy or her way of doing it. You never know, maybe that’s her gameplay.”
In men’s singles action, Indian giantslayer Ayush Shetty’s dreamrun in the tournament ended with a 21-19, 21-11 defeat to Ali Farhan of Indonesia.
Shetty, who knocked out defending champions Shi Yuqi of China in round one, fought hard but 11th-seeded Farhan showed his class in the round-of-16 match. AGENCIES
