PARIS: It was a story of smash hits and mishits at the Porte de la Chapell here on Thursday evening. China's He Bing Jiao, 27, got it right and destroyed her opponent. India's PV Sindhu, 29, could not and succumbed. Sindhu had beaten the doughty Chinese at the Tokyo Olympics to win the bronze medal.
This time, she lost to her in the pre-quarterfinals, failing in her bid to get her third Olympic medal after her silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo. It was close in the first game. Sindhu stayed close to the left-hander, engaging in long rallies. She was down 2-7 and 6-10 but caught up at 12-12. It was 19-19 at the end. Sindhu's smash then went just wide, and He's smash on the next point beat Sindhu hollow. 21-19 to the Chinese.
