Sindhu loses in Indonesia
INDIA ace PV Sindhu’s impressive campaign at the Indonesia Open Super 1000 tournament came to an end after she went down in three games to former world champion Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand in a hard-fought women’s singles semifinal last Saturday (27).
Third seed Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, lost 21-15 9-21 14-21 to world No 8 and secondseeded Ratchanok in 54 minutes for her third semifinal finish on the trot.
Sindhu, 26, had made it to the last four in the Indonesia Masters last week and also at the French Open in October.
The world No 7 Indian came into the match with a 4-6 head-to-head count, having lost to the Thai player twice in their last two meetings. Sindhu made a good start, moving to a 8-3 lead early on. Ratchanok
narrowed it down to 9-10 before Sindhu entered the break with a slender onepoint advantage.
She grabbed three straight points to march ahead and pocketed the opening game.
Ratchanok got her bearings and came roaring back into the match with a lead of 11-7 at the interval in the second game.
The Thai shuttler grabbed nine of the next 10 points from 12-8 to leave Sindhu stranded.
It was Sindhu who handed 11 game points to Ratchanok after going to the net and the Thailand player sealed the game with a smash on her opponent’s forehand.
Ratchanok continued her impressive run in the decider, as she ran up a healthy 11-6 lead with Sindhu committing too many errors.
The Indian had a good run as she reached 13-16 but Ratchanok snapped the run of points and moved to seven match points. A net error delayed the inevitable but Ratchanok then sealed the contest with a precise return at the forecourt.
Sindhu, the reigning world champion, last reached the finals at the Swiss Open.