Reigning world champion PV Sindhu’s hopes of securing India’s first-ever Olympic gold in badminton were smashed on Saturday, as she slumped to a straight-game defeat against world No.1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women’s singles semis.

The 26-year-old silver-medallist from the Rio Games, however, remained in the hunt for a bronze and will be competing against China’s He Bing Jiao in the third place play-off on Sunday.

Sindhu couldn’t counter Tai Tzu's deception with her aggressive game, going down 18-21, 12-21 in a 40-minute clash. “I’m a bit sad because it’s the semi-finals, but I tried my best, it’s just not my day. I fought until the end,” Sindhu said after the match.

“In the second game I gave away a huge lead but still I was fighting back because you never know, it can change at any moment. It’s the Olympics, you have to fight until the last point and I have done that.”

This is Sindhu’s 14th loss to Tai Tzu in 19 meetings.