Sindhu's bid for 3rd straight bronze at World Championships ends

Jakarta/ Indonesia, Aug 14: Indian badminton player PV Sindhu was unsuccessful in her attempt to complete a hat-trick of medals at the BWF World Championships, losing a gruelling women's singles quarter-final to Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea in Jakarta on Friday.

Sindhu, seeded 11th, was second best in the battle of attrition, going down 17-21, 21-19, 16-21 to the eighth seed in a match lasting an hour and 22 minutes.

The 20-year-old Indian had won back-to-back bronze medals in the previous editions of the Championships in 2013 and 2014. The Hyderabadi had raised hopes of a third consecutive medal when she stunned China's Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday.

Saina Nehwal is now India's sole hope for a medal at the prestigious event and will play her quarter-final against Wang Yihan of China later on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa lost to the Japanese duo of Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao 23-25 14-21 in the women's doubles quarter-finals. The top-ranked Indian pair failed to convert the chances in the first game before running out of steam to lose in straight games. Gutta and Ponnappa, seeded 13th, had upset eighth seeds Reika Kakiiwa and Miyuki Maeda of Japan to make the quarter-finals.