India's Pusarla V. Sindhu celebrates as she defeats China's Wang Zhi Yi during their women's third round match of the Badminton World Championships, Thursday, Aug 28, 2025, in Paris. -- AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard
PARIS (Xinhua): Pusarla V. Sindhu, who had been struggling through a slump in recent months, rediscovered her top form in Paris to upset second seed Wang Zhiyi of China and advance into the last eight at the Badminton World Championships.
The Indian shuttler, a world champion in 2019, had failed to progress beyond the second round in her last nine tournaments.
But on Thursday, she rolled back the years with sharp movement and clean shot-making, leaving Wang with few answers on her way to a straight-games victory, 21-19, 21-15.
Wang, who has reached seven finals this year, admitted afterward that her opponent's level had taken her by surprise.
"I was a bit surprised by her speed. It has been a while since I played her. I did my preparation, but I have to admit that she was much better today," Wang said.
Sindhu explained that preparation and focus had been key to her win.
"I was prepared for everything," she said. "I was ready for long rallies, and also for her changing the pace - sometimes playing long exchanges, sometimes using those half-smashes. I had to stay sharp because she has those surprising shots at times."
Elsewhere in the women's singles, China's Chen Yufei dispatched Vietnam's Nguyen Thuy Linh 21-10, 21-9 in just 32 minutes to set up a quarterfinal clash with Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand. Han Yue overcame fellow Chinese Gao Fangjie and now faces two-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.
On the men's side, top seed Shi Yuqi was pushed hard by France's Christo Popov in a high-quality encounter. Shi recovered from a game down to win 20-22, 21-13, 21-18 after 80 minutes of play.
Compatriot Weng Hongyang also started slowly against France's Alex Lanier, but rallied to win 21-18, 21-12. The two Chinese players will now face each other in the quarterfinals.
With Toma Junior Popov falling 6-21, 22-20, 19-21 to second seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark, all three French men's singles players were eliminated on the same day.
In the men's doubles, Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang could not hold off Asian Games champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty from India, losing in three games.
Chen Boyang and Liu Yi, however, kept hopes alive for China with a straight-set win over Denmark's Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard. They will meet Chinese Taipei's Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan in the quarterfinals. - Xinhua
