Sindhu knocked out of Malaysia Masters

Kuala Lumpur: Reigning world champion P V Sindhu was knocked out of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament after losing in straight games to top seed Tai Tzu Ying here on Friday.

The Chinese Taipei world number two beat the Indian 21-16 21-16 in the quarterfinal, extending her head to head record to 12-5.

This was Sindhu’s second consecutive loss to Tzu Ying. She had lost to her at the quarterfinals of the French Open in October last year.

Sindhu was erratic at the start, failing to capitalize on her leads and eventually lost the first game 16-21 to hand a 1-0 advantage to Tzu Ying.

In the second game, Sindhu could do little as Tzu Ying completely dominated the proceedings from start to end.

Trailing 11-20, Sindhu saved six match points but it was too late as Tzu Ying sealed the game 21-16.