"Sindhu is finished" - Fans react as ace shuttler loses in quarterfinal at the Asian Games 2023
India’s badminton superstar P. V. Sindhu continued her disappointing form with yet another loss this year. The two-time Olympic medalist went down to China’s He Bingjiao in straight sets in the quarterfinal of the Asian Games 2023.
The medal hope from India looked unconfident right from the start of the match. Her demoralized body language was the first sign that the quarterfinal encounter was going to be an uphill task. Sindhu tried her best to give her Chinese opponent a fight, but it never looked like she could do much to rattle her.
Sindhu lost the first set with a score of 16-21, while she was tamed in the second set with a score of 12-21.
Despite the quarter-final loss, Sindhu played some exceptional badminton in the previous round. She showcased her authority on the badminton court with a commanding victory over Indonesia's Putri Kusuma Wardani. Sindhu emerged victorious 21-16, 21-16, in a marathon of a match that lasted 55 minutes and saw her securing a place in the quarterfinals.
The Indian badminton star also got the better of Chinese Taipei’s Wen-Chi Hsu in straight sets in a match that lasted 42 minutes. Sindhu dominated her opponent and won the match with a scoreline of 21-10, 21-15 in the round of 32.
Sindhu has seen a dip in her performance this year, with several first-round exits. The Indian has managed to reach only one final in almost 17 tournaments, and this got fans questioning her performance.
After her quarterfinal exit at the Asian Games, fans on social media took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their frustration and disappointment at seeing Sindhu miss out on a place in the semifinal of the event.
Here's how fans reacted to Sindhu’s performance:
Contrary to most fans, there is also a set that believes this is just a bad phase in the shuttler’s career, and they expressed their feelings and offered words of encouragement to her.
Despite the loss at the Asian Games, the nation is hopeful that Sindhu can bounce back and continue to win several more medals for the country in the upcoming tournaments and even the Paris Olympics next year.