PV Sindhu loses in Thailand Open semifinals

BANGKOK,MAY 21: A profligate P V Sindhu faltered in the semifinals of the Thailand Open, going down in straight games to Olympic champion and world number four Chen Yu Fei of China here on Saturday.

Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, lost 17-21 16-21 to third seeded Chen in 43 minutes to end an impressive run in the Super 500 tournament.

Sindhu, seeded sixth, enjoyed a 6-4 head-to-head count coming into the match but she was not her usual best and committed too many unforced errors against the Chinese, who played aggressive badminton to come up trumps against the Indian.

The 26-year-old from Hyderabad had also lost to Chen the last time the two faced off at the 2019 BWF World Tour Finals.

Sindhu was the first to log points but Chen strengthened her defence and kept the rallies alive with her overall game to push the Indian to commit errors.

After an initial 3-3 battle, Chen broke off with a cross court slice on her rival’s forehand.

Looking for precision, Sindhu fluffed the lines and Chen was spot on with her video referrals as she led 11-7 at the interval in the first game.

Things didn’t change much as Chen continued to dominate the rallies with Sindhu finding the net and going wide and long, the Chinese managed to extend her lead to 17-12.

Sindhu won a few points with a couple of precise cross court returns on Chen’s backhand to make it 15-17 but the Chinese disposed off a short lift from Sindhu next to break the run of play.

-PTI