Olympics 2024: PV Sindhu faces familiar foe He Bing Jiao in pre-quarterfinals

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu is set to face off against familiar foe He Bing Jiao of China in the women's singles pre-quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.

Both Sindhu and Bing Jiao topped their respective groups.

Head-to-Head

At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when Sindhu, 29, won her second successive Olympic medal she handed Bing Jiao thrashed 21-13, 21-15 in the bronze medal playoff.

Since the Tokyo Olympics, Sindhu and Bing Jiao met each other four times, with both shuttlers winning two matches each.

Overall, they played 20 times, with their first meeting dating back to 2015 when Bing Jiao defeated Sindhu in the quarterfinals of the Indonesian Masters.

In the head-to-head tally, 27-year-old Bing Jiao, the Asian Games and Asian Championships bronze medallist in 2023 and 2024 respectively, enjoys an 11-9 lead over her Indian counterpart.

Form guide

Sindhu, the Rio Olympics silver medallist and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist, won her group stage matches in straight games not allowing her opponents to surpass the double-digit mark.

Sindhu opened her Paris 2024 campaign with a comprehensive 21-9, 21-6 win over Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq of Maldives.

She followed it up with another convincing win against Kristin Kuuba of Estonia. Sindhu beat Kuuba 21-5, 21-10 top progress to the Round of 16 as the Group M topper.

Bing Jiao, on the other hand, defeated Keisha Fatimah Azzahra of Ajerbaijan 21-8, 21-7 to open her campaign before facing a stiff test against Kirsty Gilmour of Great Britain in Group N.

The opening game went neck-to-neck before Bing Jiao prevailed 24-22. In the second game, the Chinese World No. 9 prevailed 21-8 to set up an anticipated clash against Sindhu.

Possible quarterfinal and semifinal duels

If Sindhu overcomes Bing Jiao, reigning Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei, World No. 2, will be her opponent in the quarterfinals. Yu Fei got a bye in the pre-quarterfinals.

The winner of this duel will run into 2016 Rio Olympics champion Carolina Marin, who has made a massive turnaround in her career after battling a series of injuries and surgeries in recent years.

In the other half of the draw, World No. 1 An Se Young got a bye and advanced to the quarterfinals. She is likely to face Akane Yamaguchi, the former world champion from Japan in the quarterfinals. Yamaguchi will face Supanida Katethong of Thailand in the pre-quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Ratchanok Intanon, who ended World No. 3 Tai Tzu Ying's Paris Olympics bid in the group stage on Wednesday, also got a bye, as Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia faces Kim Ga Eun of South Korea in the pre-quarterfinal.