Badminton: Sindhu exits Indonesia Masters with defeat in semifinal

Bali: Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu crashed out of the Indonesia Masters Super 750 badminton tournament after suffering a straight-game defeat in the semifinals against Japanese top seed Akane Yamaguchi, here on Friday.

Even though Sindhu had a superior 12-7 head-to-head record against the Japanese shuttler going into Friday’s tie, having won both the meetings between the two this year, the Indian was no match to her rival, losing 13-21 9-21 in a one-sided duel that lasted just 32 minutes.

Sindhu, seeded third, was not at her usual best and trailed her Japanese opponent from the start in both the games.

In the second game, Sindhu had a brief lead before Yamaguchi dominated her rival all throughout to seal the issue in her favor.

The Japanese will now play the winner of the other semifinal between fourth seed An Seyoung and Thailand’s Phittayaporn Chaiwan.

India’s challenge in the event now rests on Kidambi Srikanth, who will play third seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the men’s singles semifinals, later in the day.