Sindhu suffers shock defeat CHINA

New Delhi, Nov. 17: P. V. Sindhu’s title defence ended with shock straight- games loss to China’s Gao Fangjie in the quarter- finals of the China Open in Fuzhou on Friday.

Sindhu seemed completely off colour during her 38- minute duel with the 19- year- old Gao, who upstaged the world no. two 21- 11, 21- 10.

Sindhu’s loss ended India’s campaign at the China Open, following the ouster of Saina Nehwal and H. S. Prannoy in the pre- quarterfinals on Friday. The 22- year- old seemed exhausted and struggled to anticipate her opponent’s moves even as Gao kept varying the length of the shots and engaged in long rallies to dominate the proceedings.

In the first game, Sindhu opened up a 2- 0 lead before Gao showed her fighting skills and turned the tables at 4 - 3. Though Sindhu played a few smart drops and smashes to gather points, Gao entered the break leading 11- 9. After the mid- game interval, the Chinese teen raced away, gathering 10 of the next 12 points to pocket the opening game.

In the second game, Gao jumped to a 11- 6 lead and with Sindhu committing too many unforced errors she moved ahead to 20- 9 match point and then won the match easily. Former world number one Lee Chong Wei followed great rival Lin Dan out of the China Open as he too was on the end of an upset.

The 35- year- old Malaysian went down in the quarterfinals to Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka- long 21- 12, 15- 21, 21- 19. — Agencies