P.V. Sindhu exited in the second round of the China Masters after a heavy defeat

Speech by two-time Olympic medalist P.V. Sindhu’s China Masters Super 750 badminton tournament came to an end in the second round after she lost to Singapore’s Yeoh Jia Ming on Thursday in a closely contested three-game women’s badminton event. World number 19 Sindhu, who defeated higher-ranked Busanan Ongbamrungphan 21-17 21-19 in the first round, fought valiantly before losing to Min 16-21, 21-17, 21-23 in a match that lasted one one and nine. minutes. It was curtains for the other two surviving Indian women’s singles players as Anupama Upadhyaya and Malvika Bansod were eliminated in the second round.

While Anupama lost to Japan’s Natsuki Nidaira 7-21 (14-21), Malvika was defeated by eight-seeded Supanida Katetong of Thailand 9-21 (9-21).

The women’s doubles pair of Trisa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were no match for the second seeded Chinese pair of Liu Sheng Shu and Tangning.

The world ranked 18th-ranked Indian duo, who are currently ranked eighth in the BWF World Tour rankings, lost to their Chinese opponents 16-11, 11-21 in a second-round match that lasted just 43 minutes.

India’s singles task now rests on the shoulders of Lakshya Sen, who will face Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke in the men’s second-round match later in the day.

Also in action will be defending champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who have returned to action after a break following the Paris Olympics.

The Asian Games gold medalist Indian duo will face Danish pair Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Soggard in a pre-quarter-final match later on Thursday.

Sindhu vs Min ========= Thursday’s heavy defeat was Sindhu’s first loss to her Singaporean opponent in six meetings.

It was an even battle between Sindhu and Min until the first six points, but the Singaporean improved her game and took advantage of several unforced errors from her opponent to gain a five-point lead (11-6) at the first break. .

Sindhu, however, did not give up and pushed it back with some long rallies and some fine court play to bag four straight points to reduce the margin to 11-10. The close battle between the two shuttlers continued to 16 points before Ming upped her game and won five points in a row to win the first game.

In the second game, Sindhu came out on the attack and built an 8-5 lead that Min gradually chipped away at, but the Indian kept her cool and used her experience to score four straight points from 17 to level the match.

The spectators were delighted to witness the decisive match as both shuttlers were in no mood to give an inch to each other. At one point, Sindhu was leading 13-9, but a determined Min did not give up, putting in a superb attacking performance and taking advantage of Sindhu’s tiring errors to decide the match in her favour. PTI SSC SSC AH AH