PV Sindhu goes down to Putri Wardani in agonising end to World Championships medal quest

PV Sindhu's quest for a record-extending sixth World Championship medal came to a heartbreaking end in the quarterfinal as she went down to Putri Kusuma Wardani 14-21, 21-13, 16-21 in 64 minutes. The 30-year-old Indian, who had stunned second seed Wang Zhi Yi yesterday, fought well but couldn't clinch the big moments to squander an advantageous position in the decider.

Sindhu, seeded 15th came into the match with a 2-2 head-to-head against the 9th seeded Indonesian and had the momentum with her on the fast courts of Paris after showing glimpses of her peak self in the Round of 16 match.

The match had a nervy start, with the initial few points being decided by errors from both players, rather than winners. Sindhu was a slower to start but drew level at 6-6, but that's when Wardani pulled away with an unfurling of her strokes to head into the interval with a 11-7 lead. The second half was all about Wardani, who took the initiative and stormed to a massive lead. Sindhu had a small comeback towards the end but was not enough as she went a game down.

And then Sindhu responded like a champ, racing her way to a big lead from the faster side of the court. She employed her big wingspan, sending down powerful overhead and backcourt shots, while being solid in all-court defence. She cleaned up her errors, defended with more control and was more decisive in her strokes. Wardani seemed to have a lapse in focus as she made a flurry of errors under pressure from Sindhu's attack

PV Sindhu unleashes old hits in bid to win sixth World Championship medal

On the back of this surge, it looked like Sindhu would have the momentum in the decider. This game was all about fantastic rallies, one even going up to 50 shots, with stunning point construction from both players. They pushed each other all over court, retrieved low and wide and forced every muscle and angle into play. Sindhu was making Wardani defend with her entire leg, hit that extra shuttle, go for something different and either make a mistake or end it with a smash.

However, it was Sindhu's old demon of line misjudgement that brought her down in the end. At 8-9, she left the shuttle, and it landed in and was faulted for touching the net, giving the interval lead to the Indonesian. From her favoured end of the court, Sindhu could not muster up the same explosiveness that won her the second game and Wardani reset to find the angles and opened up a crucial lead with 4 points on the trot and soon was close to the finish line.

At 16-18, Sindhu left the shuttle once again and it landed in and then another error gave up four match points, the first of which saw the Indian send it long. It ends with her own errors after fought so well for most of the match against a younger, in-form opponent.

Wardani was in tears after becoming a World Championship medallist while Sindhu will be left with some regrets having come so very close, only a few points away from a medal. This one will hurt, but credit to the 30-year-old who gave it her all and played like her a prime self - showing us vintage Sindhu for that one glorious match against Wang - after a difficult season in 2025.

You can relive all the action from the match in our live blog, below: