PV Sindhu bows out of China Open

Double Olympics medallist PV Sindhu, fresh from her Japan Open triumph, crashed out of the China Open after losing to Olympic champion Chen Yufei in a hard-fought pre-quarterfinal match that went to three games.

Hyderabad: Double Olympics medallist P.V. Sindhu bowed out of China Open losing to the host country’s Chen Yufei 16-21, 22-20, 21-18 in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday.

This was a disappointing result, coming just a week after she won the Japan Open.

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Chen, seeded fourth, was the dominant player in the first game taking a comfortable 12-6 lead before Sindhu found her rhythm to level the scores at 16-all before pulling ahead with a splendid finish to win the first game 21-16.

The former Olympic silver medallist from India did put up a remarkable fight having four match points in the second game before the Chinese opponent staged a comeback to take the issue into the decider.

In the final game, Chen changed gears to leave Sindhu far behind and wrapped up the contest with ease.
Earlier, the fourth-seeded Chen, 2020 Olympics gold medallist, dominated early proceedings as she raced off to a 12-6 lead in the opening game. But Sindhu rallied back into the contest, drawing level at 16-16 before pulling clear with a superb finishing kick to win the first game 21-16.