Birmingham: India’s campaign at the All England Badminton Championships started here Wednesday on a disastrous note with PV Sindhu suffering a stunning loss in the first round of the women’s competition. Compatriot HS Prannoy also bowed out of the tournament, being beaten by close friend-turned-foe, B Sai Praneeth.
However, Sindhu’s ouster shocked all and sundry. One of the title-contenders, the top Indian woman shuttler went down 16-21, 22-20, 18-21 to South Korean adversary, Sung Ji Hyun. Even though the Prannoy-Praneeth encounter lasted two hard-fought games, the former lost 19-21, 19-21.
World Championships and Olympics silver medallist Sindhu was expected to go deep into the tournament. However, on the day she failed to come up with the goods. Prior to the meeting Wednesday, Sindhu has lost two of the three matches she had played against Hyun last year. The Korean continued her good run against the India.
Sindhu committed far too many unforced errors to lose in three games. She raised hopes of a revival by winning the second game to restore parity in the match. However, in the third game Sindhu was always playing the catch up game.
Agencies