Birmingham: Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu suffered a straight-set defeat in the semis of the All England World Championships 2021 here on Saturday.
She lost to Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong.
PV Sindhu could not have been presented a better chance to become the third Indian—and the country’s first woman, after Prakash Padukone (1980) and Pullela Gopichand (2001) to win the All England badminton title.
Contingents from China, Taiwan and South Korea opted not to travel due to virus restrictions. Olympic champion and top seed Carolina Marin also withdrew due to an injury. The Indonesian contingent was forced to pull out after one of their shuttlers tested positive for Covid-19 while the Japanese were out of touch, playing their first tournament in months.
PV Sindhu could not have been presented a better chance to become the third Indian—and the country’s first woman—after Prakash Padukone (1980) and Pullela Gopichand (2001) to win the All England badminton title, especially after finding form with her reaching the Swiss Open final this month.
Despite starting strongly, Sindhu’s challenge fizzled out midway through the first game when the sixth-seeded Thai took a 14-7 lead. Sindhu pushed Chochuwong to the back of the court which paid dividends as the Indian fought back to 16-17.
But a sudden surge by the Thai, who has been in sensational form this year, saw her churn winners from even her defensive strokes to clinch the first game in 24 minutes.
Sindhu was up against it when Chochuwong led 11-4 in the second game.
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