The Indian challenge at the $1,250,000 Indonesian Open came to an end on Friday after PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy suffered straight-game quarterfinal defeats at the BWF World Super 1000 tournament.
World no 3 Sindhu, a silver medallist at Olympics and world championship, lost 14-21, 15-21 to Chinese world no 7 He Bingjiao in 37 minutes. It was her sixth loss to the left-handed Chinese shuttler in 11 meetings.
The match between Sindhu and Bingjiao opened on an even keel as both the players looked to outdo each other in the rallies. At one stage, Bingjiao lead 10-8 but Sindhu managed to erase the deficit before a net return error gave a 11-10 lead at the break.
Sindhu failed to curb unforced errors and easy mistakes after the interval as the Chinese lead 19-11. Sindhu lost a video challenge before a precise return helped Bingjiao grab the opening game.
Sindhu zoomed to a 5-1 lead but it soon evaporated as Bingjiao drew parity at 6-6. The Indian made a few judgement errors at the backline to allow the Chinese lead 10-8. Another shuttle drifted wide and it was advantage Bingjiao again.
Sindhu continued to struggle with her strokes, hitting long or at net. Bingjiao also showed immaculate defence to lead 17-11. She was also called for a fault at net. The match ended after Sindhu hit the net and failed to connect a return.
Prannoy struggles
Prannoy, seeded eighth, went into the match with a 1-3 head-to-head count against All England champion Shi Yuqi. He seemed to match Shi Yuqi in the rallies but lacked precision in his finishing touches.
As a result, the third seeded Chinese led 11-8 at interval in both the games and eventually notched up a 21-17, 21-18 win in 39 minutes to reach the semi-finals.
From 9-8 in the first game, Shi reeled off six straight points to make it 15-8 in his favour. Trailing 13-17, Prannoy made Shi Yuqi twist and turn on the court before unleashing a smash beyond the reach of the diving Chinese.
A body smash hit Prannoy’s face and then he committed an error at the net before Shi sent a cross-court smash to reach four game points. Prannoy saved one but hit long on the next point as the Chinese grabbed the opening game.
Prannoy grabbed the initial two points in the second game, but Shi came back to turn the tables and soon held an 11-8 lead again at the break when Prannoy hit wide.
The Indian managed to narrow the gap to 16-17 before clawing back at 18-18 after winning a net dribble. But Prannoy hit long and then found net to lose the match eventually.
Other results
Japan’s Kento Momota beat Indonesian shuttler Tommy Sugiarto 21-11, 21-15 as he dominated his injured hometown rival.
The 23-year-old’s victory vaults him to a semi-final clash with Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen, 19, or Malaysian veteran Lee Chong Wei, who beat Momota Sunday to clinch the Malaysia Open title for an historic twelfth time.
World No 8 Momota was in command Friday as Sugiarto struggled to react quickly. “I was moving slower because of the injury – it hurt my reflexes,” said Sugiarto, ranked 16th in the world.
Sugiarto hurt his ankle in an earlier match against Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen. Dane Viktor Axelsen plays Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama in other quarter-final matches Friday.
In women’s singles, seventh seed Sung Ji Hyun of Korea sealed her ticket to the semi-finals as she crushed Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon 21-12 and 21-12.
Sung will face China’s Chen Yufei who toppled second seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 23-21 and 21-8.
In men’s doubles, number-one ranked Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon heartened the hometown crowd by clinching victory in a tough match against Danish pair Mads Conrad-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding.
The Indonesians lost the first game and were down in the second with their backs against the wall, but they managed to rally back to force a victorious third match. The final score was 20-22, 22-20 and 21-18.
In women’s doubles, Indonesia bowed out as Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu lost to Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota of Japan 21-14 and 22-20.
With inputs from agencies
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