NEW DELHI: It was a match that had all the ingredients of a classic. And the stage was fitting. In front of a partisan crowd, PV Sindhu was involved in a gruelling battle against China's Wang Zhi Yi in the Round of 16 stage in the women's singles category. Sindhu suffered, found some joy and when it seemed like she had a chance to convert it to something more meaningful, she ended up suffering yet again.
And the supporters, who had turned up in large numbers to watch their star shuttler play, suffered along with her in the ongoing BWF World Championships here. Sindhu had given it all but given that Ayush Shetty had suffered a similar result before her, it was a hard pill to swallow for the fans.
Things were looking darker when Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were playing the chasing game in their men's doubles tie against Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King of Malaysia. But Satiwk and Chirag, who were making their comeback post injury, won to bring back some cheers.
A victory over Wang, who could barely stay on her feet towards the end of the energy-sapping contest, was sort of revenge for her as she had lost against the Indian ace in the same stage of the competition last year. For Sindhu, it was a missed opportunity. Having found her range in the second game, she was controlling the early stages of the decider. But she was guilty of unforced errors towards the closing stages of the match. She put up a brave face but this one would have hurt for sure.
Interestingly, the double Olympic medallist had never lost against a shuttler from China in eight matches before this. "I should have converted that into a win is what I said because I mean they were long rallies. It was a good match and I think 17-17 at that point, every point matters. And I should have been a little more patient is what I felt," Sindhu later rued.
The following contest between SatChi and the Malaysians was also a see-saw battle. After falling behind, the Indian pair, a double bronze medallist in the competition, found their rhythm in the second game. The third game was close and had the crowd at the edge of their seats but the experienced duo stepped up towards the death to enter the quarterfinals.
Deja vu for Ayush
Three years ago, Ayush had signalled his promise by capturing a medal at the World Junior Championships. It was not quite gold, but it didn't matter.
However, the opponent — Alwi Farhan — who had beaten him came back to haunt him at the very competition, albeit at the senior level, to leave him empty-handed this time.
Over the years, the two have had close tussles but just like 2023, it was Alwi who shone the brightest. The Indonesian who's also 21 (same age as Ayush), displayed his tactical intelligence to outwit the Indian in the Round of 16 stage of the men's singles category. The first game was close — Alwi held his calm to edge it — but the second game was a no contest. Alwi stepped up the pace and displayed his killer instincts to win in straight games. Alwi won 21-19, 21-11. Clearly deflated, Ayush rued his missed opportunities in the opening game. "I think he (Alwi) was playing really sharp today (Thursday). I think I had my chances in the first game, but couldn't convert it. And I think in the second game he was playing with more confidence. He was putting a lot of pressure from the net. I think that made the difference," Ayush said.
Big win for Treesa-Gayatri
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were rank outsiders at the start of the marquee event. Both had suffered injuries, leading them to be in the wilderness for some time. How fortunes can change in a matter of days. The duo beat Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi of Japan to march into the last-eight stage of the women's doubles category. If they win their next match, they'll return with a medal at the very least.
Earlier, the mixed doubles combination of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila's campaign had ended after their defeat against China's Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui.
Results (select): MS: A Antonsen bt T Popov 21-17, 17-21, 21-14, A Farhan bt A Shetty 21-19, 21-11, A Lanier bt Angus KL 21-17, 21-12, R Gemke bt J Christie 11-21, 21-13, 21-18, V Lai bt KY Loh 22-20, 21-18, K Vitidsarn bt G Tan 21-10, 21-10, K Naraoka bt SF Li 13-21, 23-21, 21-11; WS: ZY Wang bt PV Sindhu 21-11, 15-21, 21-17, A Yamaguchi bt YJ Sim 21-17, 21-10, An SY bt M Blichfeldt 21-16, 21-10, P Chochuwong bt YF Chen 15-21, 25-23, 21-17; MD: Satwik/Chirag bt Yap/Arif 21-23, 21-19, 21-17; Fikri/Alfian bt Ki/Kang 21-15, 14-21, 21-12; Izzudin/Goh bt Chiu/Wang 21-17, 21-17; WD: Treesa/Gayatri bt Iwanaga/Nakanishi 21-16, 21-12; Zhang/Jia bt Hung/Hsieh 21-11, 21-18, Liu/Tan bt Gabriela/Stefani 21-16, 21-18; XD: Chen/Guo bt Kapila/Crasto 21-16, 21-5, Zhang/Cheng 21-15, 21-12, Feng/Huang bt Taguchi/Watanabe 21-19, 21-18.
