China’s world No. 3 Wang Zhiyi on Thursday overcame severe cramps to down Indian star P.V. Sindhu and reach the quarter-finals of the Badminton World Championships.
The top seeds kept their campaign on track, with South Korea’s world No. 1 An Se-young and defending champion Akane Yamaguchi also winning their third-round matches at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
Wang’s brave effort stood out as she beat ninth-seeded Sindhu 21-11, 15-21, 21-17 despite severely cramping in the deciding game.
Photo: Reuters
With scores level at 16-16 in game 3, Wang slipped and winced in pain before taking some treatment for cramps.
The Chinese went down again at 19-17, but this time got back to get the winners as she fell flat on the court in relief and joy.
“Obviously it was such a tough match today,” Wang said. “I think she is very strong opponent and has very fast attacks. My game plan worked and I am proud of my performance today.”
“That moment I just told myself to keep going. Never give up — that’s it,” Wang said about her cramps.
Sindhu said she did not know what was happening when her opponent went down.
“I don’t know if she was injured or not,” she said. “Maybe that’s her strategy or her way of doing it. You never know, maybe that’s her gameplay.”
Earlier Olympic champion An beat Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt 21-16, 21-10 in 43 minutes as she bids to win a second world crown.
“I am very happy, the crowd was supporting me and that gave me energy and keeps me going,” said An, who won again yesterday, beating Yue Han of China 21-19, 21-12.
Japan’s world No. 2 Yamaguchi beat Sim Yu-jin of South Korea 21-17, 21-10 to stay on course to defend her title she won last year in Paris.
Japanese Nozomi Okuhara downed Ishika Jaiswal of Malaysia 21-11, 13-21, 21-12.
In men’s singles action, India’s Ayush Shetty’s run in the tournament ended with a 21-19, 21-11 defeat to Ali Farhan of Indonesia.
Shetty, who knocked out defending champions Shi Yuqi of China in the first round, fought hard, but 11th-seeded Farhan showed his class in the round-of-16 match.
Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen was to play Farhan after press time last night.
American teenager Garret Tan lost 21-10, 21-10 to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn a day after the 18-year-old caused a big upset to send India’s Lakshya Sen packing in a three-game thriller.
In the mixed doubles yesterday, Taiwan’s Yang Po-hsuan and Hu Ling-fang were eliminated, beaten in 21-18, 21-9 in the quarter-finals by Indonesian pair Amri Syahnawi and Nita Violina Marwah.
In the men’s doubles, Taiwan’s LeeJhe-huei and Yang were to play Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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