PV Sindhu suffered her second consecutive defeat at the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals as China’s Chen Yufei came from behind to win 20-22, 21-16, 21-12 in 72 minutes in Guangzhou on Thursday.
With Sindhu’s defeat and Akane Yamaguchi winning her second match against He BingJiao in Group A, the Indian’s title defence came to an end in the season-ending tournament. Yamaguchi defeated Bingjiao 25-27, 21-10, 21-13.
Just like in her campaign opener against Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi on Wednesday, Sindhu squandered a game advantage to lose in a one hour and 12 minute match.
Trailing 17-20 in the opener, Sindhu staged a dramatic turnaround to score five straight points and claim the first game. At 19-20, Sindhu saved a game point despite a net chord for Chen, showing sensational retrieval skills. Sindhu saved three game points and converted her first to draw first blood.
However, the Chinese rallied to win the second game after a strong start. Chen Yufei, who has been in rampaging form this season having won all six of her finals, including the All England Championships, carried the momentum into the decider and left Sindhu stunned with her wide repertoire of shots.
Sindhu saved two game points in the second game as well but Chen converted the third with a superb drop shot and the world No 2 forced a decider in front of her home fans. Sindhu did stay in touch with the Chinese, leading 11-10 at the final change of ends in the third game. But Chen won 11 out of the next 12 points to race past the finish line.
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