End of journey for PV Sindhu at Badminton World C'ships

India’s PV Sindhu was comprehensively defeated by Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon in the semifinals of the Badminton World Championships — the 21-10, 21-13 scoreline showing how dominant the 18-year-old from Thailand was. This was the second time the two players were meeting and Intanon is now 2-0 up in the head-to-head meetings and will face China’s Xuerui Li in the final. [caption id=“attachment_1024111” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Sindhu won the first point of the match, but that was as good as it got for her. AFP[/caption] Sindhu won the first point of the match, but that was as good as it got for her — with Intanon cruising to a quick 7-4 lead before executing a series of unstoppable smashes to move ahead 17-7. Sindhu’s unforced errors got the better of her — with frustration giving way to more wasted points. Intanon, however, was supreme at the net and with her smashes too. In all, she scored 21 smash winners to Sindhu’s seven. Her nonchalant flicks and deceptive play gave her a 10-3 lead in the 2nd game and shattered Sindhu’s morale — evident from the frequent cries of anguish that came from the 18-year-old Indian. There was a late fightback from Sindhu but 10-14 was as close as she got before Intanon wrapped up the second game and the match. The Thai allowed Sindhu to take only two consecutive points while at one point, she scored nine in a row. However, Sindhu can still take heart from the fact that she will not come back home empty handed — with her assured of a bronze medal for making it to the semis. She is the first Indian to win a bronze in the women’s competition and for now, that is cause for celebration.