Sindhu’s campaign ends with pre-quarterfinal loss at Paris

Paris: PV Sindhu’s hopes of winning a third Olympic medal lay in tatters as she made a shock exit from the Paris Games with a straight-game loss against China’s world number nine He Bingjiao in the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals here on Thursday.

The 29-year-old from Hyderabad failed to mount a consistent attack and was outpaced 21-19 21-14 by Bingjiao in a 56-minute round of 16 clash, which was a rematch of the Tokyo Olympic bronze medal play-off.

Sindhu, who won the silver and bronze medal at the Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo editions, had topped the group to qualify for the knockout stage here.

Bingjiao produced an attacking masterclass with especially her lethal forehand troubling Sindhu. The Chinese landed hard and accurate smashes to gather points at will, while Sindhu was guilty of going short with her lifts.

The Indian couldn’t play at a high pace to counter her opponent’s attack and after an intense opening game, she faded into oblivion as Bingjiao exacted revenge for the Tokyo defeat.

In the opening game, Bingjiao was 5-1 up as Sindhu committed some defensive errors and faltered in

execution.