P.V. Sindhu on Saturday suffered a heartbreak at the World Badminton Championship as the Indian shuttler had to settle for a second consecutive bronze medal after succumbing to Carolina Marin of Spain in straight games at the semifinals, in Copenhagen on Saturday.
Sindhu, seeded 11th, failed in her bid to become the first Indian women shuttler to reach the finals of the World Championship as her battle against ninth seeded opponent ended with 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 resilience and grit which saw her edged out sixth seed Korean Yeon Ju Bae and All England Champion Shixian Wang in the last two rounds.
Playing only her second World Championship, 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 thus became the first badminton player to win two bronze medals at the World Championship. Badminton Legend Prakash Padukone had won the men’s singles bronze in 1983, while Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won bronze in women’s doubles in 2011.
Sindhu, who won two grand Prix Gold titles at Malaysia and Macau last year, had finished at the semifinals of 2012 China Super Series Premier, besides ending in the last four at the 2010 and 2013 India Super Series.
