All England Open: PV Sindhu stumped Kim Ga Eun’s crosscourt puzzle, knocked out in the first round | Badminton News

At 20-12 in the first game of her first-round match at the All England Open, PV Sindhu appeared to be in complete control against Kim Ga Eun. The World No. 21, at her best, has a typically sturdy Korean defence that can’t be breached easily. Just a few seconds before Sindhu had all those game points, Kim won a point she had no right winning… first retrieving the shuttle off balance after it hit the net cord and changed direction, and then playing a defensive block while squatting when Sindhu had a kill shot lined up at the net. It was the first sign of a Korean revival. From 12-20, Kim won seven straight points as Sindhu’s radar started misfiring.
The Indian did win the first game 21-19 eventually, but that was from a wild error Kim and the reaction from Sindhu said it all. There was no joy, just frustration mixed in with some relief. She was in the lead, but could sense the Korean taking charge. That run of points at the end of Game 1 signalled the change of fortunes that saw Kim prevail 19-21, 21-13, 21-13 in 61 minutes. And while the foundation for the win was built on her excellent defensive perseverance, one shot in particular troubled Sindhu no end: Kim’s crosscourt, round-the-head inside out – both smashes and drops – that kept evading the Indian’s backhand reach.
Frustratingly for Sindhu, that used to be a bread-and-butter shot for her at her peak. Cast the mind back to All England 2021, when she regered arguably her best performance at the prestigious tournament while defeating Akane Yamaguchi in the quarterfinals in three hard-fought games. The crosscourt forehand smashes came to Sindhu’s rescue, and when she is hitting the round-the-head inside-out shots with zing, she can be unplayable. Against Kim though, the opportunities to play that shot were few and far between, whereas when the Korean targeted that backhand flank, Sindhu was either beaten in the rally or put under pressure.
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Injury comebacks
Both players entered the court with heavy strapping/bandaging on their right legs. Sindhu had played just four matches this year but Kim had played half that, starting her season only last week in Orleans. In the first couple of points, Sindhu established a quick physical presence. She also showed an eagerness to play crosscourt at the net, trying to create angles out of defensive lunges. But Kim caught up quickly, helped Sindhu misjudging the shuttles on length, both on attack and defence.
Sindhu’s first booming winner of the match was an inch-perfect smash down the line to Kim’s backhand side for a 6-5 lead. An 11-7 advantage at the interval quickly went up to 14-8, the steepness of Sindhu’s downward strokes proving tough for Kim to handle.
But that attacking freedom was lacking in Sindhu’s game for the rest of the match. Another area she struggled throughout was judging the length on the shuttle, letting them drop inside the corners of the court, expecting them to be out. And often, it wasn’t even when the shuttle was out of her reach. That happened at the start of Game 2 as Kim went on a run, winning 14 of the 16 points played, taking a 7-2 lead.
“Sindhu, remember, you need to control her shots,” her Indonesian coach Irwansyah was heard saying on the broadcast because Kim controlled the tempo and direction of rallies for a large part. In a match that had been littered with errors, there was a sensational 42-shot rally won Kim for an 11-9 lead. There was a brief recovery from Sindhu when she made it 12-12 in the second game, but it was that crosscourt round-the-head that Kim went back to at crunch moments, like for 17-12.Story continues below this ad
At this stage, Sindhu was just looking for errors from Kim. The momentum from the end of Game 2 carried over into the decider as the Korean went ahead 7-1. The closest Sindhu got in Game 3 was with a crosscourt round-the-head winner at 12-14, but that was all she wrote.
Winning start for Tre-Ga
It is the tournament where Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand made a name for themselves as a young pair to watch out for, making it to back-to-back women’s doubles semifinals in their first two appearances. Now, no longer seen as outsiders, the world No. 9 combination made a strong start to their 2025 campaign defeating world No. 15 Sung Shuo Yun and Yu Chien Hui 21-17, 21-13 in 48 minutes. The highlight of the match was a 105-shot rally towards the back-end of the second game that the Indians won after a couple of miraculous saves.

In mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde, on their All England debut, reached the second round with a thrilling 21-10, 17-21, 24-22 win over Chinese Taipei’s Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan.

Vinayakk Mohanarangan is Senior Assant Editor and is based in New Delhi. … Read More