Kuala Lumpur: Two-time Olympic medallist shuttler PV Sindhu went all out but couldn’t find a way to get past her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying in the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters badminton tournament here Friday. PV Sindhu suffered yet another defeat in the quarterfinals to Tai to bow out of the tournament.
A week after being outwitted by the Chinese Taipei great at Malaysia Open, seventh seed Sindhu once again fell short against the World No. 2, losing 13-21, 21-12, 12-21 in a 55-minute clash.
It was Sindhu’s 17th career defeat to the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist. Tai has prevailed over the Indian in all their last seven meetings. The last time Sindhu had defeated Tai was en route to her 2019 World Championship gold in Basel.
It was business as usual for Tai as she rode on her precision and deceptive game to get past a fighting Sindhu, who once again flattered to deceive.
Tai made her intent clear from the start, as after an initial close duel, she managed to pull away from 10-9 to jump to 15-9 and held her fort to take lead in the match.
After the change of ends, Sindhu seemed to find her bearings as she galloped to a 11-4 lead and then kept a firm grip on the rallies to roar back into the contest.
The Indian carried her momentum into the decider, leading 7-3 at one stage and for a moment it seemed, perhaps, she has cracked the Tai code, but the second seed once again managed to turn the tables around, grabbing a two-point cushion at the final break.
It was a one-way traffic after the interval as Sindhu’s unforced errors coupled with her rival’s brilliance saw the match tilt completely in favour of Tai, who zoomed to a 19-11 lead.
Another rally ended with the shuttle dropping right on the baseline as Tai held eight match points and converted it when Sindhu went to the net again.