Asian Games 2023: India had a hard time at the badminton court as shuttler PV Sindhu lost to China's He Bingjiao at the Asian Games on Thursday and crashed out in the women's singles quarterfinals. She lost in straight games against Bingjiao. Two-time Olympic medalist Sindhu, currently ranked 15th, lost 16-21, 12-21, in just 47 minutes to bow out of the competition.
Sindhu had defeated Bingjiao in straight games to win the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics but the Chinese has now avenged her defeat on home soil to deny the Indian a chance to better the colour of her previous two medals at the Asian Games. The Indian shuttler had won bronze and silver medals respectively in 2014 Incheon and 2018 Jakarta Asian Games.
In the first game, both players shared points till six-all before Bingjiao took a 9-5 lead. Sindhu was seen struggling with her court coverage as Bingjiao made the Indian run the entire court and won the points with placements and smashes to seal the first game easily in 23 minutes.
Sindhu's struggle continued in the next game as Bingjiao took a 5-1 lead. The star Indian shuttler's returns were short and Bingjiao made no mistake in closing out the points with pinpoint smashes. Sindhu showed some fight initially in the second game to close the gap at 8-9 with four straight points before the Chinese's took control and raced to 12-8 lead. Bingjiao dominated the proceedings and closed out the game and match in quick time.
Earlier on Wednesday, Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra added to his already enviable medals tally by bagging a gold medal in Men's Javelin throw event at the Asian Games. In what was a double podium finish for India, Kishore Jena clinched the silver medal. While Neeraj recorded his season-best throw of 88.88 metres, it was Kishore's personal best of 87.54m that helped him bag a silver medal. Dean Genki Roderick of Japan came third and claimed the the bronze medal recording a best effort of 82.68m.
In the men's javelin final, both Neeraj and Kishore faced early challenges due to technical issues. Neeraj's first throw was invalidated, causing a significant delay, while Kishore Jena had his second throw initially ruled as a foul before it was corrected with a white flag. Despite these early setbacks, both athletes displayed remarkable resilience and secured places on the podium, a day after Annu Rani had bagged the gold medal at the delayed 2022 Asian Games.