PV Sindhu bows out of Thailand Open after defeat to Chen Yu Fei in semifinal

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu’s hopes of winning the Thailand Open 2022 were ended after she endured a defeat at the hands of Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei of China in straight sets on Saturday.

Sixth seed Sindhu went down against third seed Chen 17-21 16-21 in a match that lasted 43 minutes, which ended her impressive run at the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament.

India’s ace shuttler had earlier downed world number 1 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the quarterfinals, but she couldn’t find a way past the Chinese hurdle.

Sindhu enjoyed a 6-4 head-to-head count coming into the match but she was not at her usual self against the Chinese, who dished out some aggressive badminton moves to come up trumps against the Indian.

The 26-year-old from Hyderabad had lost to Chen the last time they faced off at the 2019 BWF World Tour Finals.

After an initial 3-3 battle, Sindhu was lagging 7-11 at the interval in the first game. Things didn’t change much as Chen continued to dominate the rallies and eventually held five game points.

Sindhu saved two before handing the opening game to her Chinese rival.

The world number 7 Indian produced a better show in the second game, leading 6-3 before moving into the break with a narrow two-point cushion.

But the Chinese world number 4 soon tightened her game and turned the tables, moving to a 15-12 advantage. Sindhu couldn’t stop the run of the play as Chen eventually grabbed four match points and converted them comfortably.

Sindhu, who has won two Super 300 titles this season at the Syed Modi International and Swiss Open, will next compete at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 scheduled to be held in Jakarta from June 7 to 12.