BWF World C'ship: Sindhu goes down fighting against Wardani, India's medal hopes rely on Satwik-Chirag (Ld)

Paris, Aug 29 (IANS) PV Sindhu's hopes of bagging a historic sixth BWF World Championships medal came to an end with a quarterfinal defeat against Indonesian 9th seed Putri Kusuma Wardani on Friday.

The Indian shuttler, who stunned world No. 2 Wang Zhi Yi of China in the round of 16 clash, lost to Wardani 14-21, 21-13, 16-21 in a gruelling one-hour and four-minute encounter.

Sindhu began the match on the back foot, with Wardani breaking away after the score was tied at 6-6 to take an 11-7 lead into the mid-game break. The Indian never quite found her rhythm in the opener and went down 21-14. The second game, however, saw a complete shift in momentum. After edging ahead 4-3, Sindhu strung together six consecutive points to take control. Wardani managed to claw three points back, but Sindhu maintained her dominance to go into the interval with an 11-6 advantage.

In the deciding game, Wardani managed to stay ahead, but Sindhu kept the gap within three points throughout. At 17-16, however, the Indonesian shifted gears, reeling off four straight points to seal her place in the semifinals.

The 30-year-old was one win away from securing the unprecedented sixth medal and leapfrogging two-time Olympic champion Zhang Ning of China, who also holds five World Championships medals.

Sindhu, who first made her mark at the World Championships with back-to-back bronze medals in 2013 and 2014 before adding silvers in 2017 and 2018 and finally clinching gold in 2019, has faced a tough spell in recent years. The two-time Olympic medallist endured a disappointing Paris Olympics campaign and has struggled for form on the 2025 BWF World Tour, failing to progress beyond the second round in her last nine tournaments.

Earlier in the day, India’s mixed doubles duo Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila bowed out in the quarterfinals. With their exit, the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty remain India’s sole medal hope, as they take on Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Woo Yik Soh later in the day.

--IANS

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