Credit: Twitter
Indian badminton icon PV Sindhu failed to make it to the finale of the Arctic Open 2023 on October 14, Saturday. The two-time Olympic medalist slumped to her Chinese opponent Wang Zhi Yi 12-21, 21-11 , 7-21 at the Vantaa Energia Areena in Finland. Sindhu, who is currently ranked 13 in the BWF rankings, had taken down Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen in a marathon quarterfinal match on Friday, October 13, to make it to her fourth semi-final of the year.
Sindhu started the match on a frontfoot and gained a 5-2 lead; however, the Chinese shuttler made a comeback and stole the set. PV Sindhu, who had beaten Wang Zhi Yi in previous head-to-head meetings between them, hit back in the second game and looked comfortable from start to end.
The 28-year-old was in lead in the decisive set, which unfortunately didn't last long, and her rival made a comeback to win the game.
Defeating her opponent in the semifinal would have kept her in contention for her first BWF title of 2023. With Sindhu’s loss, India’s campaign at the ongoing event ended as she was the only Indian left in the Super 500 event after Kiran George, Kidambi Srikanth, Aakarshi Kashyap and Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto made their respective last-16 exits on earlier on Thursday.
