BWF World Championships 2023: Nozomi Okuhara ends PV Sindhu's journey
What's the story
PV Sindhu has crashed out of the 2023 BWF World Championships after losing to Japan's Nozomi Okuhara on Tuesday.
The 16th seed Indian lost the second-round clash 14-21, 14-21 to bow out of the competition.
Sindhu, India's only gold medallist in this competition, was also the country's only representative in the women's singles category.
Here are the key stats.
Head-to-head
BWF Head-to-head: Sindhu 9-9 Okuhara
The two faced each other a total of 17 times before this clash, and Sindhu prevailed with nine wins to Okuhara's eight victories.
Notably, Sindhu defeated her to win the World Championship gold medal in 2019. However, in the 2017 World Championship final, Okuhara beat Sindhu.
Okuhara had won the most recent clash, and she leveled the head-to-head record with this win.
2023
A tough year for Sindhu
Sindhu has had a forgettable 2023, studded with injuries and wavering form.
She has struggled to maintain her level of play and has crashed out in the opening round in seven different events this year.
Her best performance this year was reaching the semis at the Malaysian Masters and the Canadian Open.
She has struggled this year with a 20-19 win-loss record.
Record
Sindhu has won five World Championship medals
The 28-year-old shuttler is the only Indian shuttler to win the World Championship gold.
However other than that, she has won two bronze medals and two silver medals as well.
Her first medal at the competition came in 2013 when she bagged the bronze. She clinched another bronze medal in 2014.
Sindhu then bagged two consecutive silver medals in 2017 and 2018.
Information
Sindu scripted this unwanted World Championship record
The 28-year-old hardly had any zing in her attack or netplay. She was completely dominated by her old nemesis Okuhara. Notably, this is the first time Sindhu has failed to reach the quarter-finals of the World Championship.
Lakshya Sen
Sen sails through to the round of 16
Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen has stormed his way past Korea's Jeon Hyeokon Jin to enter the round of 16 of the 2023 BWF World Championship.
The eleventh-seed Indian won the match 21-11, 21-12 in only 36 minutes.
He is eyeing his maiden World Championship gold after winning the bronze medal in 2021.
He has had a topsy-turvy start this year with a 23-15 win-loss record.