At the 2024 China Masters badminton tournament, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu was eliminated in the round of 16 by Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min. In a closely contested women’s singles match, Sindhu, ranked 19th globally, lost 21-16, 17-21, 23-21 to her world No. 13 opponent. The match saw dramatic shifts in momentum, with Sindhu initially struggling to maintain a lead in the opening game. Although she fought back in the second game, pushing through to a 21-17 win, she ultimately faltered in the decider. Despite holding a 13-9 advantage in the final game, several judgment errors allowed Yeo to fight back and clinch victory after 69 minutes of play.
This defeat marked Sindhu’s first loss to Yeo Jia Min in six meetings. Sindhu continues to seek her first title on the BWF World Tour since her victory at the 2022 Singapore Open, with her last appearance in a final occurring earlier this year at the Malaysia Masters. Her loss highlighted her ongoing challenges in regaining consistent form on the international circuit after a brief period of success.
On a more positive note, Sindhu’s fellow Paris 2024 Olympians, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, progressed to the quarter-finals in the men’s doubles event. The pair, ranked No. 9 in the world, won their round of 16 match against Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard with a solid 21-19, 21-15 score. This win extended their winning streak in their first tournament since the Paris 2024 Olympics. They will now face Danish pair Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the quarter-finals.
Lakshya Sen, another Paris 2024 contender, also advanced to the quarter-finals in men’s singles after a dominant 21-16, 21-18 victory over Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke. The 17th-ranked Sen, who was a semi-finalist at the Paris Olympics, will now compete against the winner of the match between Takuma Obayashi and Denmark’s third seed Anders Antonsen in the next round.
However, it was a disappointing day for other Indian players. Mixed doubles pair B. Sumeeth Reddy and N. Sikki Reddy withdrew from their match, conceding a walkover to China’s top-seeded duo of Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping. Women’s singles players Anupama Upadhyaya and Malvika Bansod, as well as the women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, also suffered defeats. Upadhyaya lost 21-7, 21-14 to Japan’s Natsuki Nidaira, while Bansod was beaten 21-9, 21-9 by Thailand’s eighth-seeded Supanida Katethong. Jolly and Gopichand went down 21-16, 21-11 to the second-seeded Chinese pair of Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning.
