PV Sindhu in action on Day 4 of the BWF World Championships. (BAI) NEW DELHI: Up until the start of 2024, PV Sindhu had never lost to a Chinese shuttler at the Olympics and the BWF World Championships.

An unblemished 9-0 record. Then she ran into He Bingjiao and that streak came to an end at the Paris Olympics.

One remained. At the BWF World Championships, she had gone past Wang Yihan (2013), Wang Shixian (2013), Wang Shixian (2014), Li Xuerui (2015), Sun Yu (2017), Chen Yufei (2017, 2019) and Wang Zhi Yi (2025) over the years.

On Thursday, she ran into Zhi Yi for the ninth time and that streak at the Worlds also came to an end. The latest defeat -- 11-21, 21-15, 17-21 in 68 minutes -- also extended her losing record to 3-6 against the 26-year-old, with Sindhu now losing four in a row.

In a pulsating contest that had all the thrills and edge-of-the-seat action you expect from high-intensity sport, Zhi Yi withstood not just the challenge of the five-time Worlds medallist, but the crowd as well. I don't know if she was injured or not.

That was maybe her strategy of doing it. You never know.

Maybe that's her gameplay. PV SindhuIf that wasn't enough to get the crowd buzzing, the Chinese shuttler twice went down to the floor, clutching her left leg with cramps.

Twice, she called for the doctor to come to her aid while crawling to the side. And twice she returned to the court to prolong the contest, which had been littered with lengthy rallies, including in the closing stages.

New Delhi, Aug 20 (ANI): China's Wang Zhi Yi falls on the court during the women's singles Round of 16 match against India's PV Sindhu at the BWF World Championship 2026 at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo/Rahul Singh) The two medical breaks proved to be a point of contention later."

I don't know if she was injured or not. That was maybe her strategy of doing it.

You never know. Maybe that's her gameplay," claimed PV Sindhu.

World No. 3 Zhi Yi rubbished those claims.

I'm aware that players engage in such tactics, but I was really injuredWang Zhi Yi" I can understand that in that moment it looked like she had such a thought but I was really injured. During the cramp, I only thought about how to get the best from my performance.