Medal hopeful P V Sindhu crashes out of Paris Olympics; loses to China's He Bing Jiao

PARIS: PV Sindhu, India’s best bet for an Olympic gold in Paris stumbled on Thursday after losing to China's He Bing Jiao in straight sets in the prequarters. Sindhu is a silver medalist in Rio and a bronze medalist in Tokyo.

Sindhu had once defeated He Bing Jiao to win the bronze medal in Tokyo. The Paris stage was set for the Chinese player to repay the debts and she did it in style. In 2012, Saina Nehwal also won a bronze medal in badminton for India. Badminton has been part of the Olympics since the 1992 Barcelona Games.

In the men's doubles, Satwik-Chirag were outdone by Malaysia's Aaron Chia Saw Wooi Yik team, thus putting an end to India’s yet another hope for a gold medal.

After winning the first game easily, the Indian team lost. Score: 13-21, 21-14, 21-16. In the men's singles, Lakshya Sen defeated Malayali player HS Prannoy in the pre-quarters.