At 8-4 in the deciding game, with the crowd roaring behind her, PV Sindhu looked invincible against No. 3 seed Wang Zhi Yi, her familiar foe, in the pre-quarter-finals of the BWF World Championships.
She had fought her way back into the contest after being blown away in the opening game. She had won the second 21-15, was dictating the rallies and had raced to a four-point lead in the decider. Every Sindhu winner was greeted with a roar, every Wang error with a wave of anticipation.
It looked like Sindhu would extend her perfect record against Chinese shuttlers at the World Championships to a staggering 9-0. It looked like Sindhu was the Great Wall that China had not been able to breach.
From the brink, Sindhu had fought back, as she has done so many times in her storied career. And this time, on home soil, everything seemed to be going her way. At 31, she was showing what renewed hunger and improved fitness, backed by data and sports science, could do.
Then, slowly, Sindhu let the match slip. Not because Wang suddenly produced something extraordinary. The Chinese shuttler hung in. Sindhu, perhaps carried away by the momentum of her comeback and the noise around her, began trying to finish rallies too quickly.
She went looking for the kill when there was no immediate need to. Instead of keeping the shuttle in play for another couple of shots and making Wang work for an opening, Sindhu went for attacking shots that were not quite on. The errors began to arrive.
The Chinese third seed clawed her way back, and even when Sindhu moved ahead 13-10, the Indian could not maintain the same control. She conceded five straight points to fall behind 13-15.
The match had become a knife-edge contest.
Then came the cramps.
At 16-15, Sindhu sprayed a shot wide and Wang, while chasing the shuttle, fell flat and immediately clutched her left thigh after appearing to suffer a cramp. A medical timeout followed. When Wang returned, the score was level at 16-16.
The delay changed the atmosphere inside the stadium. Sindhu had been playing with urgency and aggression, but now there was another question hanging over the court: how much was Wang hurting, and how much should Sindhu continue to push?
Wang responded by moving ahead 18-17 with a smash. Then came a gruelling 54-shot rally, one that ended with Sindhu going long. Wang again clutched her right thigh. Another break. Again, the medical team rushed onto the court. The wait was becoming a bit too much for Sindhu to handle.
Sindhu then smashed into the net to hand Wang three match points.
Wang let out a scream before collapsing on the court after winning the next point. The Chinese shuttler had survived. Sindhu had not.
The 88-minute marathon ended 11-21, 21-15, 17-21, ending Sindhu’s hopes of winning a sixth World Championships medal on home soil and bringing an end to her perfect 8-0 record against Chinese shuttlers at the tournament.
But the late drama left a question hanging over the defeat.
WAS WANG REALLY HURTING?
Was Wang genuinely struggling with cramps, or had the breaks disrupted Sindhu’s rhythm at the most crucial stage of the match?
“I don’t know if she had an injury or what, maybe that was her tactics and her way of doing it,” Sindhu told reporters after the match.
“I have to be focused and I was, but again each point matters, right? At that point, even though she takes a break or not, if she is injured or not, you never know.”
“Maybe that is her way of game style or that is her way of strategy, but for me it is just that I need to focus and play every point and focus on every point,” Sindhu said.
Wang, however, insisted the cramps were genuine.
“I had to push myself hard, that’s why I suffered cramps. I understand she (Sindhu) might have thought it at that moment but I was really injured that time,” Wang said through an interpreter.
“It was such a tough match today. She is a very strong opponent, she has fast attack. My game plan worked and I am proud of my performance today. That moment I just told myself to keep going, never give up.”
WANG DESERVES CREDIT: VIMAL KUMAR
Former India chief national coach Vimal Kumar believes Wang deserves credit for staying in the contest, but Sindhu could have handled the crucial stages differently.
“Wang’s tactics worked really well, and we have to give her credit for that.
“In my opinion, if Sindhu had just kept the shuttle in play during the crucial stages, she could have managed the situation better. Instead, she hurried a little and, in the process, committed three unforced errors, which proved costly.”
The point is crucial because Wang did not need to wrestle control away from Sindhu at 8-4. She simply refused to go away.
Sindhu had the momentum, but she was trying to accelerate the match rather than extend the rallies. She had already shown, in the second game, that she could hurt Wang by mixing her attacks, using drops from the back of the court, varied smashes and strong net play.
Vimal felt the Indian had played brilliantly in the second game and started the decider strongly, but allowed Wang to return through errors.
“Sindhu played brilliantly in the second game. In the third, she had a good start and was leading 8–4, but allowed Wang to come back into the game by making a few unforced errors. It was a tough loss for Sindhu, but I feel she is doing many things right and, if she continues on this path, she will do well going forward.”
WHAT DO THE RULES SAY?
That assessment also puts the late cramp drama into perspective. The breaks came when the match was already finely poised. They may have unsettled Sindhu, but Wang had done the work to get herself back into contention before she went down.
And once the match resumed, Wang did not look incapable of continuing.
The rules allow umpires to extend the 25-second period between rallies when circumstances warrant it, including medical intervention. Players are otherwise allocated 25 seconds between rallies, with the clock starting when the umpire updates the score.
The rules around cold spray have also changed. Since 2024, the Tournament Doctor no longer provides cold spray to players during matches or intervals. Players can still apply cold spray themselves, or have a team medical staff member do so, but only during intervals and provided they are ready to resume within the allotted time.
According to senior badminton journalist Abhijeet Kulkarni, a player can be diagnosed on court but cannot ordinarily be treated unless the injury is serious. Visible blood, for instance, is one situation in which treatment can be administered.
Wang was not treated for an injury during the two incidents. She was attended to by physios and doctors after going down with cramps, before returning to play.
It was a situation that pushed the boundaries of a player’s ability to disrupt the rhythm of a match, but remained within the rules.
PLAYERS NEED SPACE: VIMAL
Vimal also raised a broader point about how much information players receive from their coaches during matches.
“The one aspect I feel we need to look at more carefully is the role of coaches during matches. Sometimes, too much instruction from the sidelines can unintentionally disturb a player’s focus. We often see players constantly looking back for instructions, and I am not sure that is always beneficial.”
Players, he said, need the freedom to read the match themselves.
“Players also need some space during a match to read the situation, make decisions and find their own solutions. Coaching is extremely important, but there has to be a balance between guiding the player and allowing the player to think and respond independently on court.”
The controversy will linger. But perhaps more painful for Sindhu will be the knowledge that the opportunity was there.
She came within three points of a sixth World Championships medal on home soil. In the end, Wang had just enough to stay alive, and Sindhu just a little too much urgency.
Delhi had believed. Sindhu had believed. It just wasn’t meant to be.
– Ends
