Badminton World Championships: Sindhu rolls back years to dump Wang out
The 2019 world champion rediscovers Olympic medal-winning best in Paris to win in straight games
Pusarla Venkata Sindhu rediscovered her Olympic medal-winning best at the Badminton World Championships in Paris on Thursday, beating China’s Wang Zhiyi to advance to the last eight.
Despite struggling through a slump in recent months, Sindhu finally found her feet in the French capital and was too strong for the second seed.
The Indian shuttler, a world champion in 2019, had failed to progress beyond the second round in her last nine tournaments. But she rolled back the years with sharp movement and clean shot-making, leaving Wang with few answers on her way to a straight-games victory, 21-19, 21-15.
Wang, who has reached seven finals this year, said afterwards that her opponent’s level had taken her by surprise.
“I was a bit surprised by her speed. It has been a while since I played her. I did my preparation, but I have to admit that she was much better today,” Wang said.
Sindhu, who missed out on a medal at last summer’s Games after claiming silver in Rio in 2016 and bronze in Tokyo in 2021, said preparation and focus had been key to her win.