PV Sindhu at Paris Olympics: Who are star Indian shuttler’s main rivals for the podium?

PV Sindhu’s quest for a historic third Olympic medal will begin on Sunday at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris.

A spate of injuries and indifferent form has crippled Sindhu’s rhythm in the lead-up to her third Games, eight years after she bagged a coveted silver to become only the second Indian shuttler after Saina Nehwal to clinch an Olympic medal. A bronze in Tokyo 2021 elevated her into a select group of Indian individual multiple medalists. A podium finish in Paris will propel her into uncharted territory – potentially the first Indian with three individual medals. Having been out of action for a while after a knee injury last October, Sindhu’s 2024 season displays 15 wins to nine defeats, including a loss in the Malaysia Masters final in May.

A title has eluded her since her gold medal triumph at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Seeded 10th in the women’s singles in Paris, Sindhu’s group-stage draw offers her an early cushion before bigger challenges emerge on a potentially stifling streak.

He Bing Jiao (CHN)

Slotted in Group M, Sindhu will not be ruffled by World No. 75 Kristin Kuuba from Estonia in her first outing. She will then take on Maldives’ Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq, ranked 111th in the world, an opponent she trumped in the Round of 32 at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The 29-year-old’s first distinct hurdle will be the Round of 16 when she will likely go up against China’s He Bingjiao in a potential rematch of their Tokyo Olympics bronze-medal contest which Sindhu won comfortably 21-13, 21-15. However, Bingjiao won their last meeting at the 2022 Asian Games, and the southpaw holds an 11-9 record over Sindhu in their neck-and-neck tussle over the years.

Chen Yu Fei (CHN)

Streaks will be on a collision course if Sindhu overcomes Bingjiao to set up a meeting with her Chinese compatriot Chen Yu Fei in the quarter-final (provided no upsets). While the Indian superstar has not lost a match to any Chinese shuttler at the Olympics and the World Championships, Yufei enters the Games in red-hot form. The defending Olympic Champion won the Indonesia Open earlier this month, beating World No. 1 An Se-young in the final.

Though Sindhu had held a superior record in their early rivalry, even securing successive World Championships semi-final wins in 2017 and 2019, Yufei has responded with three consecutive wins since late 2019, tying the overalls at six wins apiece. Sindhu had her moments in their quarter-final skirmish at the French Open in March at the Olympic venue. However, the relentless Yufei prevailed after one hour and 32 minutes in their longest tie across nine years. Sindhu can take heart from that performance though and among the potential opponents from rest of the top four, Yufei was perhaps Sindhu’s best bet for a quarterfinal win.

Carolina Marin (ESP)

Even if Sindhu summons her invincible self to flip a lowly 2024 into a lively season on the back of beating two Chinese heavyweights, she could inevitably run into Carolina Marin, her forever arch nemesis, in the semi-finals. Marin has worked almost like a kryptonite for Sindhu over the years with an 11-5 record; their 2016 Olympics final being one among several chapters that shared the same story.

After a closer head-to-head record earlier in their careers, the fourth-seeded Spaniard has trounced Sindhu in each of their last six meetings, dating back to the 2018 World Championships final. Sindhu, however, would inspire some confidence from their previous face-off at the Singapore Open in May where she nearly pulled off a comeback win before slipping 22-20 in the decisive game. But should Sindhu reach the semifinals, she will at least be guaranteed a shot at a medal match the very least.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.