Indonesia Masters Super 500, QF as it happened: Sindhu, Lakshya go down, India’s challenge ends

Well, that’s the end of India’s campaign at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 this year. PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen were the only Indian shuttlers who made it as far as the quarterfinals. While Lakshya managed to force a decider in his loss against Chou Tien Chen, Sindhu was simply outplayed by Ratchanok Intanon today.

PV Sindhu 12-21, 10-21 Ratchanok Intanon: Ratchanok Intanon gets the job done in straight games! PV Sindhu simply couldn’t get going today. The quarterfinal ends in 33 minutes and it’s Intanon who is through to the semifinals.

PV Sindhu 12-21, 8-18 Ratchanok Intanon: This is ending in a hurry. The Thai has a 10-point lead, she’s played an incredible match and been clinical in both attack and defence.

PV Sindhu 12-21, 8-16 Ratchanok Intanon: The Thai wins consecutive points but Sindhu responds with another brilliant crosscourt winner.

PV Sindhu 12-21, 7-14 Ratchanok Intanon: Nice play from Sindhu. She tracks back quickly and hits a smash winner crosscourt. The Indian needs to get on a roll here and close down the gap.

PV Sindhu 12-21, 6-11 Ratchanok Intanon: Well, Intanon led by six points at the interval in the opener and she leads by five points at the interval now. It was another good rally but Sindhu ended it with an error to head to the break. It’s now or never for the Indian.

PV Sindhu 12-21, 4-9 Ratchanok Intanon: Sensational play from Intanon! Sindhu hit a superb crosscourt drop but the Thai somehow got her racket to it and ended up playing a superb drop of her own. Sindhu managed to send it back but Intanon smashed it back into an empty court.

PV Sindhu 12-21, 4-8 Ratchanok Intanon: The Thai produces a brilliant smash winner down the line but then fires an overhead wide. Sindhu is still within striking distance here.

PV Sindhu 12-21, 2-7 Ratchanok Intanon: The errors from Sindhu’s racket keep mounting. She seems keen to end points quickly but is making soft errors. Intanon is in complete control.

PV Sindhu 12-21, 1-4 Ratchanok Intanon: Now Sindhu smashes one into the middle of the net. That didn’t look good. The Indian seems short on confidence and is running out of time.

PV Sindhu 12-21, 0-2 Ratchanok Intanon: A brilliant rally! Both players send the shuttle back and forth in a rapid exchange and it’s Intanon who wins it with a lovely backhand flick.

Sindhu will now play from the more favourable side of the court in terms of drift. The Indian will be keen to start strong in this second game.

PV Sindhu 12-21 Ratchanok Intanon: First game in the bag for Intanon! The Thai fifth seed dominated the opener. Sindhu has struggled to find rhythm so far and needs to respond quickly.

PV Sindhu 9-17 Ratchanok Intanon: A much-needed smash winner from Sindhu down the line. She then moves Intanon around and plays a couple of fine drops but ends the rally by hitting it wide.

PV Sindhu 8-15 Ratchanok Intanon: A wonderfully-disguised backhand flick by Intanon before Sindhu hits another one wide. The Thai then moves the Indian back and forth before getting a smash winner.

PV Sindhu 7-12 Ratchanok Intanon: Sindhu wins a couple of quick points after the interval but then hits one wide and loses the grip over her racket in the process. The longest rally so far has had just 13 shots.

PV Sindhu 5-11 Ratchanok Intanon: The Thai has a healthy lead at the mid-game interval in the opener. Sindhu has found no rhythm so far and has made a number of errors.

PV Sindhu 5-9 Ratchanok Intanon: Sindhu goes for a smash from mid court but fires it well wide. Intanon then flicks one backhand cross court and it lands just wide. She goes for a review but to no avail.

PV Sindhu 3-7 Ratchanok Intanon: Sindhu with a few errors at the start and Intanon seems to be playing well within herself at the moment. No long rally so far.

PV Sindhu 2-3 Ratchanok Intanon: Intonon has started from the more favourable side of the court in terms of drift. Sindhu hits an overhead into the net as both players try and find their feet.

The warmups are done we’re ready for play!

Sindhu vs Intanon head-to-head:

5.31 pm: Sindhu, seeded fourth, and Intanon, seeded fifth, are on court! Intanon leads their head-to-head 8-4 but more importantly, she has won their last four matches.

5.27 pm: PV Sindhu is up next against Ratchanok Intanon!

Men’s singles: Axelsen is through to the semifinals with a dominating 21-13, 21-9 win over Angus. The world No 1 and reigning Olympic champion reaches the last four of the Indonesia Masters for the third time in his career.

Women’s singles: Chen YuFei is through to the semifinals from the top half and the Olympic champion will face her compatriot He Bingjiao next. In the bottom Sindhu vs Intanon is coming up right after the Axelsen-Angus match.

Stay tuned for updates from PV Sindhu’s match.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12, 14-21 Chou Tien Chen: Four more matches to go for PV Sindhu vs Ratchanok Intanon, the battle of former world champions.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12, 14-21 Chou Tien Chen: Good fight in the end but it wasn’t to be for Lakshya today. Chou Tien Chen delivers a fine performance to better his H2H record against the Indian to 2-0 and reach the semifinals. An entertaining contest.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12, 14-20 Chou Tien Chen: Super rally! Lakshya giving it all to stay in the point and forces the lift to go long from CTC. One match point saved. Oh wow, another fantastic defensive point from Lakshya to save another match point. The commentator points out score after interval is 9-9. It’s the damage from the first half that is hurting Sen.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12, 12-20 Chou Tien Chen: Match points galore.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12, 12-19 Chou Tien Chen: A big roar from CTC as he plays a crosscourt winner.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12, 12-17 Chou Tien Chen: Good rally from both players, Lakshya gets the point after a body smash. Last chance territory for the Indian, you feel.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12, 11-17 Chou Tien Chen: Frustration for Lakshya, two attacking shots that he has sent wide. That is the problem with trailing and forcing the pace.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12, 10-15 Chou Tien Chen: WHAT A POINT!!! Lakshya Sen with sensational defensive hustle and his forehand block lands in with the sideways drift. CTC left a bit stunned there. Could this be a turning point?

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12, 9-15 Chou Tien Chen: This is a very damaging little phase for Lakshya. Should have probably left the flick serve alone but he engages in a rally, misjudges at the back line and sees a challenge.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12, 8-14 Chou Tien Chen: Oh dear, after doing so well to stay in a rally, Lakshya misses a simple drive. And then a smash goes long. That was the problem with 5-11, there was no room for error. The Indian needed to play a perfect game and under scoreboard pressure.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12, 8-11 Chou Tien Chen: A really good spinning shot at the net. Lakshya needs more of that and really soon. A long rally follows (24 shots), then an error from CTC, and the Indian closes the gap down.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12, 5-11 Chou Tien Chen: And from there, series of three super aggressive points and CTC knows he needed that before the change of ends. All the pressure on Lakshya now. Feels like a bridge too far at the moment even from the good side, so to speak.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12, 5-8 Chou Tien Chen: Fantastic net exchange by both players and Lakshya takes the point by pushing CTC back.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12, 2-7 Chou Tien Chen: CTC is playing from the better side presumably at the start of the third game here, so Lakshya needs to make sure he stays in touch. A great defensive point goes in vain but then makes an error at the net. A few easy points here for CTC.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 21-12 Chou Tien Chen: DECIDER! Riding on a solid defensive display in the 2nd half, Lakshya takes this match to the distance. A good punch clear by the Indian and it lands well in with the drift. CTC let it go far too early. But the man does love a good three-game battle, eh?

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 20-12 Chou Tien Chen: More wonderful defence from Lakshya. Game points galore.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 19-11 Chou Tien Chen: Great defensive hustle by Lakshya once again, even leading 18-11... tries to keep sending the shuttle back and wins the point eventually.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 15-9 Chou Tien Chen: Spectacular reflex defending by Lakshya there to win a point under pressure from CTC’s flat drives.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 14-8 Chou Tien Chen: Now CTC’s turn to struggle to put together a run of points. But he is keeping Lakshya on his toes, nice cross-smash winner.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 11-5 Chou Tien Chen: Lakshya Sen is now bouncing around on the court, and that is usually a good sign. Good solid lead in this game at the moment.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 8-4 Chou Tien Chen: Solid stuff from Lakshya in the 2nd game so far. A run of 4 straight points is the best for him in this match so far. CTC gets the serve back with a good body smash.

Lakshya Sen 16-21, 5-3 Chou Tien Chen: Neither player went on a run of points in the opening game, just a little blip in the middle phase were he made 3-4 errors cost Lakshya in the end. Good start to the 2nd game by LS but he loses a 47-shot rally and then loses a challenge. Better intensity for sure though.

Lakshya Sen 16-21 Chou Tien Chen: Lakshya didn’t more than 2 points in a row in that entire game, that eventually played a telling role in the result. Even CTC didn’t go on a run of points but just a brief stumble from Lakshya in the middle part of the game was enough for him.

Lakshya Sen 16-20 Chou Tien Chen: Series of service exchanges at the moment but CTC now has four game points.

Lakshya Sen 15-19 Chou Tien Chen: A brilliant winner by Lakshya at 12-16 but CTC keeps his nose ahead... loses his 2nd challenge but gets the serve back with a nice smash.

Lakshya Sen 11-15 Chou Tien Chen: Good challenge by CTC there as Lakshya just misses the line on his crosscourt. Invariably crosscourt challenges work more than straight shot challenges, I notice. A 21-shot rally to follow and CTC is pulling ahead.

Lakshya Sen 11-12 Chou Tien Chen: Three out of four points since the break. And a lucky net chord in there.

Lakshya Sen 8-11 Chou Tien Chen: CTC loses a challenge but not long after, heads into the mid-game interval with a three-point lead. Work to do for Lakshya.

Lakshya Sen 7-10 Chou Tien Chen: Lakshya’s just lost his radar briefly as CTC reels off three in a row but the Indian comes up with an aggressive point to get the serve back. Oh dear and then a wild flick serve from LS.

Lakshya Sen 6-6 Chou Tien Chen: Fantastic flat exchange and CTC wins the point at the net. Then Lakshya punishes a short clear with a lovely cross smash. Good high quality start to this match.

Lakshya Sen 5-5 Chou Tien Chen: Lovely reverse half-smash from Lakshya. He has caught up.

Lakshya Sen 3-5 Chou Tien Chen: And now a 26-shot rally that goes Chou’s way.

Lakshya Sen 3-4 Chou Tien Chen: We are underway. A nice long rally for the 7th point of the match and after CTC had gotten off to a good start, Sen wins this rally to close the gap to one. Both players like to engage in rallies, as we saw in Bangkok too.

It’s the 2nd meeting between these two players and in quick succession. A rematch of the group stage match at the Thomas Cup recently where Lakshya went down fighting 19-21 21-13 17-21

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Indonesia Masters Super 500 event.

Lakshya Sen, PV Sindhu in action today at the quarterfinals stage of the event that has marked the return of badminton action to the iconic Istora Senayan.

Lakshya pulled off an impressive 21-18, 21-15 win against Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke but the match was an intense battle for the most part. Later in the day, Sindhu overcame a stiff challenge from former world junior champion Gregoria Mariska Tunjung with a 23-21, 20-22, 21-11 win in 71 minutes.

Screenshots in the blog courtesy Tournament Software / Viacom18