BWF World Championships: Defending champ PV Sindhu knocked out in quarter-finals, Kidambi into semis

India’s PV Sindhu was knocked out of the BWF World Championships 2021 after a 21-17, 21-13 loss to world No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the quarter-finals in Huelva, Spain on Friday.

The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist sealed the contest in 41 minutes to end the Indian badminton ace’s title defence.

PV Sindhu had a nervous start with Tai Tzu Ying rushing to the 9-3 lead in the first game. The Indian amped her pace with aggressive cross-court shots but Tai Tzu Ying was clever with her deceptions and managed to pocket the opening game.

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu competed better in the second game, putting pressure on her opponent at times but could not quite take a sizeable lead at any point.

Tai Tzu Ying frequently employed her drop shots to catch the Indian out and after being tied 12-12 in the second game, the Chinese Taipei shuttler surged ahead to wrap up the match.

This is the first time that Tai Tzu Ying had progressed past the quarters at the badminton world championships.

Tai Tzu Ying had defeated PV Sindhu in the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics earlier this year.

Meanwhile, former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth dominated Mark Caljouw in a 21-8, 21-7 victory to advance to the semi-finals in the men’s singles and assure himself a bronze medal.

This is Srikanth’s first semi-final appearance at the world championships. The Indian gave Caljouw no chance, as he peppered the court with cross-court smashes and smartly played the net game to deceive the Dutchman.

Youngster Lakshya Sen also made his way into the semis after a hard-fought 21-15, 15-21, 22-20 win over China’s Zhao Jun Peng. Lakshya saved a match point at 19-21 and won two more points to assure a bronze medal.

Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth will face each other in the last four. This means that India will win at least a bronze and a silver medal - since one will go through to the final.

This is the first time that India will have two medals in the men’s singles in the same edition of the badminton world championships. India had only won two men’s singles medals across world championships history until now.

However, HS Prannoy could not join his compatriots in the last four as he lost 21-14, 21-12 to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew, who had beaten Viktor Axelsen in the first round.