{
  "id": 10210295,
  "title": "PV Sindhu’s gruelling 24 hours: Late night, early start and Asian Games exit",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/27/pv-sindhus-gruelling-24-hours-late-night-early-start-and-asian-games",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-27T12:06:51.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/badminton/pv-sindhu-gruelling-24-hrs-late-night-early-start-asian-games-exit-10896305/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On Saturday, PV Sindhu's badminton schedule began at 3pm and extended well into the night. Her first match was delayed, while the second was moved from Court 1 to Court 2. Eventually, Sindhu exited the courts around 1am, arriving at her hotel in the city center around 1.30am. After a light dinner and recovery routine, she finally got some sleep at almost 3am. On Sunday, Sindhu returned to the courts at 9am to face Chen Yufei in the quarterfinals. After a strong start, Sindhu lost the match, ending India's badminton campaign at the Asian Games. Sindhu expressed frustration with the schedule, stating that she had not experienced such a grueling day at a major championship and that the organization was not well-structured. Other athletes echoed her dissatisfaction, with Japan's Kodai Naraoka feeling extremely fatigued after playing twice on Saturday. Jonatan Christie, who finished his third-round match at 2am, expressed disappointment with the organizers, stating that they did not care about the athletes. Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon also faced challenges, having played twice the previous day before facing world No. 1 An Se-young. The complaints highlighted a schedule that left players juggling multiple matches, late finishes, and early starts, with little recovery time between events. The exhausting schedule affected both singles and doubles players, with singles athletes bearing much of the burden, especially those competing in the team event, which concluded earlier in the week. Women's doubles world No. 1 Tan Ning criticized the schedule as unfair, alleging that complaints from different teams were treated differently. The Asian Games organizers had previously revised the badminton schedule, altering the mixed doubles second round's time due to changes in the number of participating athletes. However, no official explanation has been provided following the players' complaints. Sindhu felt the physical toll of playing three matches in 24 hours, acknowledging that recovery was crucial, even if the matches were challenging.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [
    "PV Sindhu's schedule began at 3pm and extended into the night",
    "Sindhu exited courts around 1am, arriving at hotel at 1.30am",
    "Complaints highlighted grueling schedule affecting players' recovery"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}