Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu shocked World No. 2 Wang Zhi Yi of China to storm into the quarterfinals of the World Championships, in Paris on Thursday.
The 15th ranked Sindhu, who won the world title in Basel in 2019, took 48 minutes to prevail 21-19, 21-15 in the pre-quarterfinals to lead head-to-head record against the Chinese 3-2.
The 30-year-old Indian will now face World No. 9 Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in the quarterfinals as the Indian is now just one victory away from securing a record-equalling sixth World Championships medal.
The Indonesian had beaten Sindhu in straight games at the Sudirman Cup earlier this year, though the Indian had prevailed in their Asian Games round-two clash in 2022.
"When I stepped onto the court, she was like any other player for me. I knew it's not going to be easy from round one in a World Championship. You have to fight for every point, every rally. I wanted to give my 100 percent," Sindhu said after the match.
A five-time World Championships medallist, Sindhu made a bright start in the opening game, racing to an 11-6 lead at the mid-game interval with a flurry of sharp smashes and net winners.
Wang fought back strongly to level at 19-19, but the Indian held her nerves to pocket the game.
"Of course, Wang Zhi Yi is a very good athlete, but it was not in my mind. I had to just be consistent and keep the shuttle in. I knew there would be long rallies… even though I was leading, she didn't give up. I was prepared for her pace changes, the tough smashes, and I was always quick on my feet," Sindhu added.
In the second game, Sindhu kept up the pressure, once again opening up a 11-6 cushion at the break.
A stunning 57-shot rally briefly tested her, but she regained control with decisive attacking play, closing out the match.
Sindhu thus extended her remarkable record against Chinese shuttlers at the Worlds, having previously beaten Wang Yihan (2013), Wang Shixian (2014), Li Xuerui (2015), Sun Yu (2017) and Chen Yufei (2017 and 2019) in earlier editions.
Meanwhile, India's Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also pulled off a big upset by stunning Hong Kong World No. 5 pairing of Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet 19-21, 21-12, 21-15 in a 63-minute battle to storm into the quarterfinals.
The Indians, who had earlier cruised past Ireland's Joshua Magee and Moya Ryan 21-11, 21-16 in 35 minutes, came from a game down to topple the reigning Asian champions with a determined fightback.
"We had a rough run a couple of months back. I think we are building together, step by step, slowly, slowly we are getting there. Really happy with the way we played today," Tanisha said.
"We came prepared, prepared better this time. We didn't give up at any point in the match. Even after we lost the first set, we didn't let it get to us. We fought back even harder in the second and third. We kept pushing each other till the end, till the last shot. I think that was the real game changer today."
The Indian duo had endured a patchy start to the year, losing in the round of 16 at the Malaysia Open and India Open, before reaching the semifinals at the German Open in February.
However, early exits at the Orleans Masters and All England Championships followed.
Dhruv spoke about the turnaround.
"We started really good in the beginning of the year, two tournaments didn't go well. There was no technical problem, but the main thing was we kept on supporting each other and came prepared well. Previously when we were losing the first game we were mentally down, but today we stayed strong," he said.
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