He Bing Jiao defeats Sindhu 21-19, 21-14
Thursday turned out to be a difficult day for Indian badminton at Paris Olympics. After the exits of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty and HS Prannoy, India’s most successful Olympic shuttler, PV Sindhu, did as well.
Sindhu struggled against China’s sixth seed, He Bing Jiao, falling in straight games on Court 3 at the La Chapelle Arena. PV Sindhu failed to win a medal in the Summer Games for the first time in her career.
Satwik-Chirag had lost earlier in the day
This was the same court where Satwik-Chirag were defeated previously, and the curse followed Sindhu, who lost 19-21, 14-21 in 56 minutes. Sindhu was aiming for a remarkable third medal in Paris, but was overpowered by the sixth seed on Thursday.
Also read: Paris Olympics: Lakshya defeats Prannoy to enter quarter-finals
Sindhu vs Bing Jiao: Game 1
The opening game between the Tokyo Olympic rivals was closely contested. Sindhu used her reach to put pressure on Jiao, while her Chinese opponent displayed her full range of tricky moves and powerful smashes.
Sindhu trailed at the start of the game but rallied beautifully by forcing Jiao into the net. Jiao, who was striking with the wind, was unable to control her front-court pushes and conceded several points.
The first game was close, but Jiao pulled away at the finish, attacking Sindhu with body smashes and mixing up her style with drop strokes on the forehand. Jiao won the first game 21-19.
Also read: Paris Olympics: Swapnil Kusale clinches bronze medal in 50m rifle 3-position event
Sindhu vs Bing Jiao: Game 2
The rut persisted in the second game of the match, when she fell behind 2-8. Defence was the critical difference in the early half of the second game, as He Bing Jiao was able to lift all of Sindhu’s smashes. Sindhu, on the other hand, struggled several times, unable to assess the pace of the game and hitting her shots far.
Jiao continued to improve in the game, eventually toying with Sindhu and defeating her in consecutive games.
Sindhu’s loss capped a difficult day for Indian badminton, and India in general, on Thursday. After Swapni Kusale’s bronze medal win, India lost in hockey, had two medal contenders withdraw, and lost Sift Kaur Samra in the 50m rifle 3 P event.
