P V Sindhu settles for historic bronze at World Badminton Championships

Copenhagen: P.V. Sindhu on Saturday suffered a heartbreak at the World Badminton Championships, settling for a second consecutive bronze medal after succumbing to Carolina Marin of Spain in straight games in the semifinals.

Sindhu, seeded 11th, failed in her bid to become the first Indian women’s shuttler to reach the finals of the World Championship as her battle against her ninth-seeded opponent ended in a 17-21, 15-21 loss at the Ballerup Super Arena here.

A bronze medallist at the last edition, Sindhu had conjured up hopes of bettering the colour of her medal this year but she could not produce the same resilence and grit which saw her edge out sixth seed Korean Yeon Ju Bae and All England Champion Shixian Wang in the last two rounds.

Playing only her second World Championships, Sindhu, who won a bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow early this month, could not find a way out of the long fast-paced rallies played by the left-handed Marin.

The 19-year-old became the Indian to win two bronze medals at the World Championships.