Indian challenge ends as double Oly medallist PV and Lakshya make quarter-final exits
PV Sindhu returns to Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon during their quarter-final yesterday. Pic/AFP; (right) Lakshya Sen
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and rising star Lakshya Sen made quarter-final exits in their respective singles events, ending India’s challenge in the Indonesia Open Super Series 500 tournament here on Friday.
Sen was first to be eliminated as the 20-year-old went down fighting and forced a decider against his higher-seeded Chinese Taipei rival Chou Tien Chen 21-16, 12-21, 21-14.
India’s last hope then rested on Sindhu, but the former world champion went down without a fight to her old foe Ratchanok Intanon 12-21, 10-21 in a match lasting a little over half an hour.
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Sindhu, 27, was at her dominating best and looked at ease with both in attacks and defence and the Indian was never able to fight back and suffered her fifth straight loss against her Thai rival.
After pocketing the first game easily, Intanon looked even more furious in the second and raced to a 10-point lead before sealing the issue in 33 minutes to improve her head-to-head against Sindhu to 9-4.
Sindhu, who made a semi-final exit in the Thailand Open last month, had earned a hard-fought victory over Gregoria Mariska Tunjung to enter the quarter-finals. Earlier, World Championships bronze medallist Sen bounced back from behind to level the second game, but the third-seed from Chinese Taipei was superior in the decider with a 21-16, 12-21, 21-14 scoreline in his favour.
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