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A third straight Olympics medal eluded P V Sindhu after a shock exit from the Paris Games following a straight-games defeat to China's world No. 6 He Bing Jiao in the women's singles pre-quarter-finals in Paris on Thursday.
The 29-year-old from Hyderabad, who won a silver medal at the Rio Games in 2016 and bronze in the Tokyo edition, was beaten 21-19, 21-14 in 26 minutes.
Sindhu had topped her group in qualifying for the knock-out stage and was looking for a third medal from the Games, but Bingjiao produced an attacking masterclass, her lethal forehand troubling Sindhu.
In what was a rematch of the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal play-off, the Chinese landed hard and accurate smashes to gather points at will, while Sindhu was guilty of falling short with her lifts. She was unable to match her opponent's pace. After an intense opening game she faded as Bingjiao exacted revenge.
Bingjiao raced to a 5-1 lead in the opening game as Sindhu committed some defensive errors. The Chinese kept Sindhu at the rear court as a result of which Sindhu’s deep returns went wide and long. Soon the Chinese was 8-3 up.
Sindhu stepped up the pace and took control of the net as the rallies got extended. Her short lifts were punished by Bingjiao. A cross-court and down-the-line smash saw Bingjiao have a three-point cushion at the break.
But the Indian got back on level terms at 12-12 after the Chinese sprayed into net. Two soft errors at the net by Sindhu was followed by a deceptive follow-up shot from Bingjio, who moved to 17-14.
Sindhu made it 17-18 before Bingjiao unleashed a body smash. It was then Sindhu's turn to produce a smash and the scores were level 19-all. Bingjiao put a precise on-the-line return to grab a game point and then sealed a long rally with a forehand jump smash to take the first game.
In the second, Bingjiao continued to mount her attack while Sindhu's length was a bit off. The Chinese raced to 6-2. Sindhu reeled off three points but Bingjiao maintained the pressure on Sindhu with two more jump smashes to take a 11-5 lead at the interval after the Indian found the net.
Crossing over, Bingjiao dominated the rallies to extend her lead to 14-8.
A forehand cross-court and a flat drive from Sindhu kept her hopes alive but it proved too late as Bingjiao moved to 18-11 after the Indian went wide again.
The Chinese grabbed seven match-points and converted the second after Sindhu went long.