P.V. Sindhu, the defending champion, was eliminated from the BWF World Badminton Championships on Friday after losing in straight games to familiar rival and world number one Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women’s singles quarterfinals. With this wint Tai Tzu avenged her title defeat in 2019 in the hands of Sindhu.
The top-seeded Tai Tzu defeated PV Sindhu 21-17 21-13 in a 42-minute set that sapped their energies.
Sindhu struggled to match Tai Tzu’s pace, court coverage, and drop shots, as she had done so many times before, despite the Indian’s superb cross-court smashes.
PV Sindhu several unforced errors cost her the title game
PV Sindhu, who made numerous unforced errors during the match, was continually playing catch-up. At one point in the second game, she was able to do so, but she ran out of steam later on.
The victory improved the Chinese Taipei player’s head-to-head record to 15-5 in favour of the Chinese Taipei player.
Sindhu, the world number seven and a two-time Olympic medalist, had previously lost to Tai Tzu in the semifinals of the Tokyo Games earlier this year.
Tai Tzu, on the other hand, avenged her loss to Sindhu at the same stage of the 2019 World Championships.
Early on, the two players—friends off the court—were tied 2-2, but Tai Tzu rapidly changed gears to take an 11-6 lead at the change of ends in the first game.
