Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who is having a torrid time on the court with no titles in the last seven months, finally has something to cheer about, as she registered the fastest smash at last week’s China Open among women’s singles players, at a whopping 397.2 kph.
Sindhu, ranked world No. 15, came into the match against compatriot Unnati Hooda on the back of a solid victory over Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki but found herself outplayed by Unnati’s speed, precision and unrelenting energy to exit the China Open in the second round. This is the first time that Sindhu has lost to a fellow Indian in an international event in seven years, the last being the 2018 Commonwealth Games final defeat to Saina Nehwal. She had lost to Saina in the 2019 National Championships final as well.
Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrumphan is second on the list behind Sindhu, with a smash of 388.8 kph, while Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour is third with 368.2 kph. Notably, champion Wang Zhiyi doesn’t feature among the top 10. In men’s doubles, star Indian shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy registered a smash of 436.2 kph, way below his world record of 565km/h smash. He and Chirag Shetty finished as semifinalists after losing to nemesis Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in straight games.
Satwik and Chirag once again found themselves on the losing side against the Chia and Soh, who have proven to be a persistent hurdle in their path.Satwik and Chirag went down 13-21, 17-21 to the 2022 World champions and two-time Olympic bronze medallists.This was the 14th meeting between the two pairs, with Chia and Soh maintaining a dominant 10-3 head-to-head record.
South Korea’s Kim Won-ho tops the list in men’s doubles with two smashes of 461.6 and 455.6kph. Chia is third on the list with a 454.2kph smash.No Indian features on the fastest smash list in the men’s singles, women’s doubles or mixed doubles formats.