Wang Zhiyi, the next opponent for PV Sindhu at the Malaysia Open, has inherited one of the most stressful and extremely thorny, spiky crown as China’s No 1 women’s singles player. She had 3 smaller titles last year, but went down in eight finals, seven of them to World No 1 An Se-young.
Chinese No 1s are not supposed to lose finals so often, and every defeat brought out an avalanche of groaning criticisms throughout 2025. Those reams in Chinese media can get severely self-flagellating when it comes to badminton, like sad existential poetry and state of the nation ruminations, because steadily staying No 2 against a Korean rival (no less), is seen as failure. Then, Wang went and lost to PV Sindhu in the round of 16 of the World Championships in Paris. Broken, loose hell bubbled around her.
Malaysia Open is the first Super 1000 (there are 4 like tennis’ Grand Slams on the shuttle circuit) of 2026, and Wang has again fetched up in the semis, with the prospect of running into An once more on Sunday. And the last face she would’ve wanted across the court on semis Saturday, is the determined visage of a slyly smiling Sindhu; tall and sharp and utterly pressure-free, smacking at the shuttle, having already packed off Tomoka Miyazaki and Akane Yamaguchi (who retired from injury after falling back 21-11).
Sindhu was perhaps the lightest bearer of the World No 2 crown. She reached that career peak back in 2017, but ended up so accomplished with medals at the Majors – Worlds and Olympics – that rankings barely registered. Maybe once she’s done with her career, she might spend a fleeting few seconds wondering about that No 1 rank that eluded her. But as an Indian path breaker and someone who consistently aced the big events, it won’t morph into a considerable regret. For Sindhu was never tied down by a nemesis, like Wang is strangled and framed by An, a dominant force.
What makes Sindhu dangerous for Wang, and what worked at the last World Championships, is her stellar record against the Chinese. It was elite temperament in 2013 when she first started scalping their big names and it remains a top-notch mindset, now in 2026.
But would Wang allow lightning to strike twice inside six months? Sindhu, coming back from an injury, is World No 18 now, has copped a defeat against Unnati Hooda and at 30, has some glaring limitations. What she has displayed in the first week of competition at Axiata arena, though, is lightness on her feet and a springy, short back-swinging smashing action that has rejuvenated her attack. She doesn’t need the almighty shoulder power on the big hit, if she’s striking the shuttle very high with a whippy wrist and elbow. And if she’s ready to defend patiently and bide her time in spewing the attack, which when hit stays hit, no matter who the opponent.
Sindhu’s vertical advantage – a definite differentiator against the running Japanese – might not easily aid her against Wang, who’s 5-ft-7. In Paris, Sindhu took her by surprise, playing a very tactical game devised by Irwansyah, which allowed the Chinese to implode under the pressure of being the ‘Chinese contender’. But it bears remembering that Wang faces a torrent of scoldings only because she loses to the near-unbeatable An. Her game is well-rounded, sprinty and quite capable of exploiting Sindhu’s weaknesses, like far-flank defense on both forehand and back.
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Sindhu’s repurposed power game hasn’t exactly added oodles of deception. She’s just far more decisive in her shot selection, and unapologetic about playing a fuss-free slam-bang power game, with elegance reserved for a couple of reverse slice drops at most. But the speed is certainly up, and strength seems restored.
Miyazaki, the best opponent she faced in Kuala Lumpur, barely tested her on the net lunges, and Wang is bound to. But the Indian is capable of opening up the court and going for the lines with an expansive array of deep hits. There is what Gen Z calls ‘chill’ in her game now, given she’s lost the fear of losing or being bombarded by criticism of defeats at this stage of her career. It only makes her more dangerous.
For Wang, who still has the spectre of a lower-ranked former Olympic champion in Chen Yufei being considered the actual ‘Chinese contender’ and then being a real distant No 2 behind An, the pressuring tags are mighty millstones around her neck. And then, every six odd months, Sindhu appears in front of her, like a bad dream, and it all gets too much in those noisy coliseums with Chinese chants asking her when she will be a No 1.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
