Sindhu makes History at World Badminton Championship

India’s Badminton sensation P.V. Sindhu made history, as he became the first Indian woman singles player to win a medal at the World Badminton Championship. Sindhu stormed into the semifinals and assured herself of a medal. However, 3rd seed Saina Nehwal crashed out with a 21-23, 9-21 loss to 16th seed South Korean Yeon Ju Bae in the quarterfinal.

Sindhu, seeded 10th, defeated World No. 8 and seventh seeded Shixian Wang of China in the quarterfinal in Guangzhou. World No. 12 Sindhu will now take on Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in the semifinal. Sindhu had earlier had stunned defending champion Yihan Wang of China in the per-quarterfinals.

Before P.V. Sindhu, Prakash Padukone was the only Indian player to win a bronze medal at the World Badminton Championship in 1983 at Copenhagen. Later, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won another bronze in the 2011 edition, but that came in Doubles event.