NEW DELHI: The Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium was a roaring cauldron of emotion here on Thursday as the BWF World Championships delivered a rollercoaster of breathtaking badminton.
It was a day where thundering cheers from a passionate home crowd met the cruel, razor-thin margins of elite sport. At the centre of it was India’s PV Sindhu, whose quest for a historic sixth World Championships medal ended in an agonisingly close 88-minute marathon.
With Ayush Shetty also losing, India’s singles campaign drew to a painful close but a wave of hope emerged from the doubles courts as ace pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty and the women’s combine of Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand kept the hosts’ podium aspirations alive by reaching the quarter-finals.
The marquee matchup of the evening pitted India’s two-time Olympic medalist against China’s third seed Wang Zhi Yi. Going into the match, Sindhu carried an aura of invincibility against Chinese opponents at the World Championships, having never lost to them in eight prior meetings.
But Thursday’s encounter proved to be a gruelling test of physical endurance, tactical astuteness, and sheer willpower as Sindhu struggled to find her familiar rhythm and court coverage in the opening game. Wang capitalised on the tentative start, moving with lightning speed and dictating the pace to wrap up the first game 21-11.
But champions of Sindhu’s calibre are not easily dismissed. With her back against the wall, the Indian superstar raised her level in the second game. The turning point arrived at 15-all when she suddenly tapped into a higher gear, winning six consecutive points with a barrage of precise crosscourt smashes and aggressive net play to force a third game.
The decider was a classic battle of attrition, unfolding into a gripping spectacle where neither player was willing to concede an inch. Sindhu quickly established an 8-4 advantage. Even when a few unforced errors allowed Wang to level the score at 9-all, Sindhu seized the initiative once again to go up 13-10.
But the immense physical toll of the rallies began to show. Sindhu’s tentative pushes found the net as Wang found her second wind, stringing together five straight points to reclaim the lead.
What followed was an extraordinary display of endurance. Both athletes engaged in brutal, exhausting rallies, frequently exceeding 30 shots. The climax of the tension arrived with Sindhu trailing 15-16.
A wide shot from the Indian forced Wang to lunge, sending the Chinese player crashing to the floor, clutching her left thigh in an apparent cramp. Following a tense medical timeout, Wang returned to the action as the score reached 17-all.
At 17-18, the crowd watched in breathless silence as the two engaged in a mind-boggling 54-shot rally. It ended in heartbreak for the home crowd when Sindhu’s lift sailed just long.
Wang, now clutching her right thigh, somehow summoned the strength to continue. A netted smash from Sindhu handed the Chinese star three match points. Moments later, Wang let out a scream of victory before collapsing onto the court, sealing the decider 21-17.
“I should have stayed patient,” said Sindhu. “It was going well. I am disappointed with the final result as I should have converted the advantage. You learn. You lose a lot. You win a lot. When you lose, you need to deal with it.”
Asked about Wang’s medical timeouts and whether they disrupted her rhythm, the former world champion said: “Maybe that is her way of game style or her strategy, but for me, it is just that I need to focus and play every point. At 17-all, every point matters, and I should have been a little more patient. The last three points just changed the game,” Sindhu said about the dramatic end.
Wang, however, defended her physical struggles and the dramatic pauses. “I had to push myself hard, that’s why I suffered cramps,” she explained via an interpreter. “I understand she (Sindhu) might have thought it at that moment, but I was really injured that time. It was such a tough match. She is a very strong opponent with a fast attack. That moment I just told myself to keep going, never give up.”
Doubles’ day out
While the singles dream faded, India’s doubles pairs ignited the arena. Treesa and Gayatri engineered a magnificent upset, outclassing the seventh-seeded Japanese duo of Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi 21-16, 21-12.
Becoming the first Indian women’s pair to reach the quarter-finals in 11 years, their aggressive dominance sealed the match in just 44 minutes.
Later, Satwik and Chirag showcased nerves of steel, fighting back from a 16-18 second-game deficit to defeat Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King 21-23, 21-19, 21-17.
Earlier, Shetty, who had ousted defending champion Shi Yu Qi on Day 1, lost to Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan 19-21, 11-21.