India’s PV Sindhu bowed out in the quarter-finals of the All England Open after being outplayed 21-14, 21-10 by world No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Teipei in Birmingham on Friday.
The world No 1 showed why she is the top player in women’s badminton with a clinical performance against the Indian, who played catch-up for much of the tie.
Playing in her maiden quarter-finals at the All England Open, Sindhu fell back early on in the first game as Ying took a 9-5 lead. The Indian, seeded sixth at the event, clawed her way back to make it 10-11 at the break, but could not get herself in the lead as Ying kept pinching away the points. Ying showed incredible deftness in her net play to force Sindhu in committing several errors. Ying soon stretched the difference to five points, and then to seven as she took the first game 21-14.
The Rio Games silver-medallist came back positively in the second game, that saw a number of long rallies in the first few points. But that was the only positive spell for the Indian as Ying soon took the lead. Ying’s superior shot production and court coverage in the second game further dented Sindhu’s bid for a fight back.
As she did in the first, Ying raced to a four point lead in the second game. Sindhu went into the break trailling the world No 1 by six points. It wasn’t pretty once play resumed as Ying further asserted her dominance. She took the game 21-10 to cap-off a clinical performance that saw her reach her sixth semi-final at the All England Open.
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