Shuttler PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, was knocked out of the Indonesia Masters badminton tournament after losing in the opening round on Wednesday.
Sindhu, currently ranked 12th in the world, was defeated by Vietnam’s 32nd ranked Nguyen Thuy Linh with scores of 22-20, 21-12 in just 37 minutes.
The two-time Olympic medalist started the first game strongly, establishing an 11-4 advantage before the mid-game break.
Although Sindhu had six game points at 20-14 at one point, she failed to take advantage of the situation, as Nguyen Thuy Linh made an outstanding comeback to win the first game with eight consecutive points, according to Olympics.com.
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The Indian badminton star had difficulty gaining her rhythm in the second game as the Vietnamese player raced to an 11-5 advantage before finishing the match in straight sets. This marked Sindhu’s first defeat to Nguyen Thuy Linh in three encounters.
At the BWF Super 500 tournament, Lakshya Sen moved on to the round of 16 in men’s singles by defeating Japan’s Takuma Obayashi with scores of 21-9, 21-14.
World No. 10 Lakshya Sen, who made it to the semi-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympics, firmly defeated Takuma Obayashi, ranked 37th by the BWF, in both games to wrap up the match in just 39 minutes. Lakshya will face world No. 15 Kenta Nishimoto from Japan in the upcoming round on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila advanced to the round of 16 in the mixed doubles competition. They defeated hometown favorites Adnan Maulana and Indah Cahya Sari Jamil in straight sets 21-18, 21-14. The Indian pair will face Malaysia’s Hoo Pang Ron and Cheng Su Yin for a spot in the quarter-finals.
(With inputs from ANI)
