Badminton
All England Open Badminton: A look at PV Sindhu's past performances
We look at how Indian shuttler PV Sindhu has fared at the All England Badminton Open over the years.
A look at PV Sindhu's performances at All England Open Badminton Championships (Source: @YonexAllEngland)
India's ace shuttler PV Sindhu is the lone Indian still in contention for the 2021 All England Open title. The current world number 7 has made her way to the semifinals of the prestigious event for the second time in her career.
Just before Sindhu takes on Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong in the semi-finals of the All England Open 2021, we look at how the Indian star has fared at the All England Badminton Championship over the years:
2012: Crashes out in the first round on debut
PV Sindhu made her All England Open debut in the year 2012 as a 17-year-old. Up against a very strong Tai Tzu-Ying from Taiwan in the very first round of the tournament, the young Sindhu fought tremendously but crumbled under the pressure to lose the match 21-14, 16-21, 19-21 to crash out of the tournament.
Both Sindhu and Tzu-Ying have come a long way since then with Sindhu being ranked world number 7 during the All England Open 2021 and Tzu-Ying being world number 1.
2013: Second round exit against the German Juliane Schenk
By the time Sindhu returned for her second appearance at the All England Badminton Open, she had developed much more as a player; and this was quite evident in the way she went about her business during the tournament.
Facing the Thai Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the first round, the Indian registered an easy 21-13, 21-18 win before crashing out in the second round against a much more experienced Julian Schenk from Germany, who was ranked world number 4 then, with the score-line reading 17-21, 14-21.
2014: A first-round upset
When PV Sindhu arrived in England in 2014, she was already ranked top 10 in the world. Despite this, the Indian lost 16-21, 15-21 in straight sets to a much lower ranked opponent – Sun Yu of China in the very first round of the tournament. This was certainly an upset as Yu was then ranked below 30 in the world.
2016: Yet another first-round exit
Returning to England after two years, PV Sindhu yet again crashed out of the tournament in the very first round. This time around Sindhu, who was ranked world number 12, lost to the then world number 22, Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 21-18, 17-21, 12-21 in a hard-fought match.
2017: Reaches the quarterfinals for the first time
Ranked world number 6 while entering 2017 edition of All England Open, PV Sindhu reached the quarterfinals of this prestigious tournament for the first time in her career.
The Indian registered an easy 21-10, 21-11 first round win over Mette Poulsen of Denmark before demolishing the Indonesian Dinar Dyah Ayustine 21-12, 21-4 in the second round to enter the quarterfinals. Sindhu met a familiar foe in Tai Tzu-Ying in the quarters and surrendered the match 14-21, 10-21 in straight sets to bow out of the tournament.
2018: A semi-final appearance for the first time in the tournament
The All England Open 2018 is by far the most successful PV Sindhu has ever been in the tournament. Entering the event as world number 4, the Indian reached the semi-finals of the tournament.
Her entry to the final four was not an easy one by any means as the then 23-year-old had to go through three-set games, right from the very first round. If Sindhu pipped Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 20-22, 21-17, 21-9 in the first round, she faced an even stern test in the second round where she defeated another Thai, Nitchaon Jindapol 21-13, 13-21, 21-18 to get through to the quarterfinals.
In the round of eight, Sindhu bagged a very closely fought encounter 20-22, 21-18, 21-18 against Nozomi Okuhara of Japan to enter the semi-finals of All England Open for the first time in her career. These three tough battles finally took a toll on the Indian as she lost the semifinals against Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 19-21, 21-19, 21-18.
2019: First round exit following a closely fought match
After the high of 2018, PV Sindhu was soon brought down to the ground in 2019 as she crashed out of the tournament in the very first-round loss to the then world number 10 – Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea 16-21, 22-20, 18-21 in a closely fought encounter.
2020: Crashes out in the quarterfinals
In the 2020 edition of the All England Open which happened just before the entire world went into a complete lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, PV Sindhu reached the quarterfinals before bowing out of the tournament.
