Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu was eliminated from the Australia Open after going down in straight games to USA’s world number 12 Beiwen Zhang in the women’s singles quarterfinals on Friday.
Sindhu, who has slipped to world number 17, was looking to make her fourth semifinal of the season but found it tough against Zhang, losing 12-21, 17-21, in 39 minutes in the USD 420,000 Super 500 tournament.
In 10 past meetings, Sindhu had won six times against her opponent, but she just couldn’t get going on Friday against the 33-year-old Chinese-born American, who showed better control.
Sindhu had beaten compatriots Ashmita Chaliha and Aakarshi Kashyap in the first two rounds, but her loss to Zhang would come as a big disappointment ahead of the World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, to be held from August 21 to 27.
The 2019 world champion, Sindhu, has been going through a lean patch since her recovery from an injury and has made early exits from seven of the 12 BWF World Tour events this year.
Early this year, Sindhu parted ways with Korea’s Park Tae-Sang and then briefly worked with SAI coach Vidhi Chaudhary. She is currently training under new coach Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, the 2003 All England champion.
Results at the Australian Open will count towards players’ qualifying rankings for the Paris Games. The qualification window for badminton at the Paris 2024 Olympics started on May 1.
The Australian Open 2023 will conclude on Sunday.
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