PV Sindhu loses to Sayaka Takahashi 21-16 16-21 19-21 in the quarterfinal of the Indonesian Masters 2020
Quarterfinal: Sindhu frittered away a one-game lead to lose 21-16 16-21 19-21 to Sayaka Takahashi of Japan in a thrilling quarterfinal match that lasted one hour and six minutes. It was a closely-fought women’s singles contest to bring curtains on the Indian challenge in the Indonesia Masters. World number six Sindhu had a 4-2 head-to-head record against the 14th ranked Japanese before the quarterfinal match.
Sindhu began well, breaking away 11-6 in the first game.The Japanese later caught up with the Indian and took the scoreline to 11-12. But Sindhu was in no mood to allow her opponent to claw her way back and she was 16-15 up. She took the remaining five points with ease to take the first game. One game up in the match, Sindhu, however, seemed to have let her guard off a bit as she trailed all through the second game which she lost 16-21. Takahashi straightaway took a 7-0 lead but Sindhu fought back to reduce the gap to 4-8. The Indian could not sustain the tempo as she trailed 6-15. She recovered midway but found herself trailing 15-20 before losing the second game. The decider was a close contest with Takahashi 3-0 up only to see Sindhu making it 3-3. Both the players fought a see-saw battle as they were locked 10-10 and then 15-15. But from 18-18, Takahashi broke away to be at 20-18. Sindhu saved one match point but the Japanese took the next to make the semifinals
Second Round: The reigning world champion came from one game down and won the match 14-21, 21-15, 21-11 in Jakarta while Saina, who is the defending champion in the women’s singles category, lost to Japan’s Sayaki Takahashi.
Sindhu thus far is the only Indian to progress to the next round with Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, Sai Praneeth, Sourabh Verma and mixed doubles pair Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy all losing their first-round matches earlier in the day.
Saina, who is the defending champion in the women’s singles category, lost to Japan’s Sayaki Takahashi. She won the first game but then was completely outclassed in the second and third and the final scoreline read 19-21, 21-13, 21-5 in the Japanese’s favour. Srikanth went down to local favourite Shesar Hiren Rhustavito 21-18, 12-21, 14-21 in a match lasting one hour and three minutes. It was Srikanth’s second consecutive opening round defeat this season as he had also made a first round exit from the Malaysia Masters last week.Sourabh lost to Chinese shuttler Lu Guangzu in the opening round as well. Despite winning the first game 21-17, the Indian shuttler went down 15-21, 10-21 in the next two rounds to crash out of the tournament.In mixed doubles, the Indian pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy went down in straight games to the South Korean duo of Ko Sung Hyun and Eom Hye Won 8-21, 14-21.
This article was originally published in NewIndianExpress.com