India's PV Sindhu beats World No 2 Yi to enter Badminton Worlds quarter-finals

Dubai: India's two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu defeated China's World No 2 Wang Zhi Yi to enter the quarter-finals of the women's singles at BWF World Championships 2025 in Paris on Thursday.

The Indian badminton star has been in terrific form as she clinched the contest 21-19, 21-15 in a match that lasted about 48 minutes.

India also had more to cheer as the Indian pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila pulled off an upset against fifth-seeded Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong, China in the mixed doubles. Coming from behind, after losing the opening game, the Indians held their calm and composure to seal the tie 19-21, 21-12, 21-15 to reach the quarter-finals.

Coming to Sindhu's match, the five-time World Championships medallist started on a high and entered the first mid-game break with an 11-6 lead. However, the Chinese bounced back and gained a slight lead 19-17 before Sindhu unleashed her resilience and bagged four successive points to seal the game 21-19.

In the second game, Sindhu didn't allow the Chinese to snatch away her early lead as she enjoyed the identical scoreline of 11-6 heading to the break. The World No. 2 gained four consecutive points before Sindhu mirrored the feat to extend her lead to 15-11. The Indian made sure that she finished the encounter with a 21-15 win in the second game.

Sindhu will next face World No. 9 Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in the last eight. Sindhu has faced her four times and won twice.

On the other hand, Dhruv-Tanisha displayed a sheer dominance in the second game to gain eight points in a row to lead by 11-3. The Indians continued the momentum to win the game easily, 21-12. The final game saw resistance from both sides before the Indian pair edged their opponents in the final moments to take the game in their favour 21-15.

The Dhruv-Tanisha pair is just one win away from becoming the first Indian mixed doubles duo to secure a medal at the World Championships. They will face Malaysia’s Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei on Friday for a spot in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, men’s doubles duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will take on China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in their round of 16 clash later in the day.

With inputs from IANS