India's P V Sindhu produced a gallant fight before marginally falling short against reigning Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei of China in an epic quarterfinal at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament in Paris on March 8.
On a comeback trail from a four-month-long injury layoff, Sindhu gave ample display of her strokeplay and physical fitness during a marathon one hour and 32-minute battle before settling for a 24-22 17-21 18-21 loss to the second seed and defending champion Chen in a riveting last eight battle.
The last time Sindhu had beaten the world no. 2 Chen was en route to her 2019 World Championships gold. Since then the Indian has lost to the Chinese twice in the last two meetings although she held a better 6-5 head-to-head record against her opponent coming into the crucial tie.
