India’s PV Sindhu. (PTI)
PV Sindhu’s familiar issues with converting her advantage in the third game in to a win continued as she went down 21-17 16-21 17-21 against Michelle Li of Canada at the Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500 tournament.
Having somewhat comfortably taken the opening game 21-17, Sindhu was taken to a decider by Li. In the third game, Sindhu led 14-12 and 17-16 but Li won the match on a run of five straight points. It marked a troubling trend for Sindhu against an opponent with whom she had a terrific record not so long ago. Having won 9 out of their first 11 meetings, Sindhu has now lost 3 out of the last four as Li registered her 5th win overall against the Indian in 15 matches.
Quarterfinals up for grabs as Pusarla V. Sindhu 🇮🇳 faces Michelle Li 🇨🇦.#BWFWorldTour #KumamotoMasters2024 pic.twitter.com/plXRoqiHze
— BWF (@bwfmedia) November 14, 2024
On Wednesday, Sindhu overcame her favourite opponent Busanan Ongbamrungphan, 21-12, 21-8 in 38 minutes in a one-sided first round match. With the win, Sindhu extended her commanding head-to-head record over the Thai shuttler to 19-1. Some of Sindhu’s attacking gameplay in the second game especially provided hope of a longer run in this tournament, but it was not to be. The draw opened up for too, with top seed Wang Zhi Yi – on Sindhu’s radar for the QF – was defeated in the round of 16 by Korea’s Sim Yu Jin.
Elsewhere, Lakshya Sen’s made an opening-round exit on Wednesday as his struggle to return to form after Paris 2024 continued as he went down 22-20 17-21 16-21 to Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao in the men’s singles round of 32 clash. Since coming agonisingly close to standing on the podium at the Olympics, Lakshya returned to action in the European leg of the World Tour but is yet to win a match where he has played on the court (only “win” coming from a walkover).
Women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand had also made a first round exit, on Tuesday, but just about remain in contention to qualify for the season-ending World Tour Finals. With these results, India’s lull on the World Tour continued. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s wins at French Open and Thailand Open remain the only two titles won on the circuit this season so far.
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