India’s PV Sindhu produced a vintage performance to knock out world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi of the People’s Republic of China and seal her place in the quarter-finals of the BWF World Championships 2025 badminton in Paris on Thursday.
Sindhu, 15th in the women’s singles badminton rankings, needed just 48 minutes to wrap up a 21-19, 21-15 victory at the Adidas Arena.
The Indian badminton player showed great control in the opening game, building an 11-6 lead before withstanding a strong fightback. Sindhu’s attacking intent, backed by her trademark smashes and sharp net play, helped her edge out the opener despite trailing 17-19 at one stage.
The second game saw Sindhu in full flow, mixing power with deft touches at the net. She broke away to a 16-11 lead despite engaging in a brutal 57-shot rally that tested her fitness.
A string of precise winners, coupled with errors from Wang, kept Sindhu ahead before she closed out the match with a backhand at the net.
With the win, Sindhu, who claimed the badminton world title in 2019, now has a sixth World Championships medal in sight. A win against ninth-seeded Indonesian badminton player Putri Kusuma Wardani will put her ahead of Zhang Ning’s record of most women’s singles badminton medals at the BWF World Championships.
In the mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto advanced after a stunning 19-21, 21-12, 21-15 win over fifth seeds Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong China.
The victory has now set up a quarter-final clash against fourth seeds Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei of Malaysia.
India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the ninth seeds in men’s doubles, will be in action later in the day.
India has won at least one medal at every edition of the Badminton World Championships since 2011.