Reigning world champion PV Sindhu’s hopes of securing India’s first ever Olympic gold in badminton came crashing down as she slumped to a straight-game defeat against World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women’s singles semi-finals here on Saturday.

The 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 at Musashino Forest Plaza on Sunday.