India’s challenge ends as Sindhu, Prannoy lose

PV Sindhu crashed out in the women’s singles quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open Super 750 after losing to Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in a hard-fought threegame contest here on Friday.

Sindhu, seeded seventh, squandered a one-game lead to lose 21-13, 15-21, 13-21 to second seed Tai Tzu. By virtue of the win, the Taipei shuttler extended her domination over the

Indian, leading 16-5 on head-to-head record. Sindhu has now lost six matches on the trot against Tai Tzu.

The Indian challenge ended when HS Prannoy also made a quarter-final exit, losing to the seventh-seeded Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 18-21, 16-21 in a men’s singles match. Sindhu, playing against drift, made a slow start and trailed 2-5 in the opening game. But, she soon got her act together and went into the interval with a 11-7 advantage.

Tai Tzu tried to make a comeback by playing long rallies while Sindhu was up to the task and pocketed the opener. The Indian started the second game brightly, but her rival dominated the proceedings after the early exchanges to lead 11-3 at the breather.

Tai Tzu continued in the same vein and extended her lead to 14-3 before Sindhu relied on her powerful smashes to reduce the deficit to 15-17. Tai Tzu, however, regrouped quickly and secured the next four points to draw level in the match.

The decider was closely contested as both shuttlers fought tooth and nail till 12 points before Tai Tzu put Sindhu under pressure with a mix of drop shots and smashes.

While PV Sindhu lost 21-13, 15-21, 13-21 to Tai Tzu Ying, HS Prannoy went down 18-21, 16-21 to Jonatan Christie