Odense (Denmark), Oct 16: Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu crashed out of the Denmark Open with a stunning opening-round loss to American Beiwen Zhang in the women's singles event, here on Tuesday.
Third seed Sindhu lost 17-21 21-16 18-21 to Zhang in a hard-fought opening encounter that lasted 56 minutes.
This is the third consecutive time that Sindhu has lost to Zhang. The American shuttler defeated Sindhu in the Indian Open final in February earlier this year.
Rio Olympics silver-medallist Sindhu is going through a difficult phase after winning the silver medal in the Jakarta Asian Games.
She was knocked out in the second round of the Japan Open after a straight-game loss to Gao Fangjie.
The script played out similarly in the China Open, where the 23-year-old suffered a 11-21 21-11 15-21 loss to world no 6 Chen Yufei of China in the quarterfinals.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bengaluru (PTI): Two-time Olympic medal-winning Indian badminton star P V Sindhu, who was stranded in Dubai due to closure of airspace in the Gulf region, has returned to the country after pulling out of the All England Championships in Birmingham.
Sindhu posted on X to announce that she is back in the city.
"Back home in Bangalore and safe. The last few days have been intense and uncertain, but I'm truly grateful to be back to my house," she posted.
"A heartfelt thank you to the incredible ground teams, Dubai authorities, airport staff, immigration, and every single person who stepped up and took such good care of us during a very difficult time. The empathy and professionalism meant more than words can say.
ALSO READ: Sonia slams Modi govt's silence on Khamenei killing, demands debate in Parliament
"For now, it's time to rest, reset, and figure out the next steps," she added.
The former world champion was on her way to Birmingham via Dubai, when she was stranded after the flight operations were suspended in the Gulf region following the US and Israeli bombing of Iran.
Iran subsequently retaliated, hitting Dubai as well.
"Moments like these remind you how fragile normal life really is," she had posted on February 28 while revealing some details of her ordeal, which included an explosion near her place of stay.
She had described the experience as "extremely tense and scary moment" for her and her team, including Indonesian coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama.
