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India suffered another setback in the quest for a medal in badminton after ace shuttler PV Sindhu's quest for her third Olympic medal ended in the women's singles Round of 16 at the Paris Olympics.
Sindhu fell against sixth-seeded Chinese shuttler He Bing Jiao in straight sets 21-19, 21-14. The defeat marked the first time Sindhu failed to win an Olympic medal. In Rio 2016, she won silver and walked away with bronze in Tokyo. Sindhu started the first set by imposing early dominance over China's Jiao. She took the first point, but Jiao eventually raced to a healthy lead. Sindhu eventually caught up to Jiao and made the scoreline level at 12-12. Jiao once again led, but the Indian shuttler upped her ante and restored parity at 19-19. Jiao kept her composure and sealed the first set 21-19. After showing resilience in the first set, Sindhu looked well set to make a comeback in the game and proceed to the quarter-finals. However, Jiao's relentless style of play didn't allow Sindhu any window of opportunity to make a comeback. The game slowly slipped out of Sindhu's hands. Jiao capped off an impressive display by securing the second set with a 21-14 win. This wasn't the only major upset in badminton that the Indian fans endured on Thursday. World number three-ranked India pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty's run at the Paris Olympics also came to a disappointing end in the quarter-finals. Despite starting the knockout stage on a dominating note, Satwik and Chirag's hopes of returning to India with an Olympic medal were eventually crushed. With a 21-13, 14-21, 16-21 loss, Satwik and Chirag bowed out of the Paris Olympics. In the men's singles event, Lakshya Sen kept hopes for a medal alive after he ousted his compatriot HS Prannoy in the Round of 16 and moved to the final eight. He will face the 12th-seeded Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-final on Friday. (ANI)
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