P V Sindhu loses in Thailand Open semifinals

A profligate P V Sindhu faltered in the semifinals of the Thailand Open, going down in straight games to Olympic champion and world number four Chen Yu Fei of China on Saturday. Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, lost 17-21 16-21 to third seeded Chen in 43 minutes to end an impressive run in the Super 500 tournament.

Sindhu, seeded sixth, enjoyed a 6-4 head-to-head count coming into the match but she was not



her usual best and committed too many unforced errors against the Chinese, who played aggressive badminton to come up trumps against the Indian.

The 26-year-old from Hyderabad had also lost to Chen the last time the two faced off at the 2019 BWF World Tour Finals. Sindhu was the first to log points but Chen strengthened her defence and kept the rallies alive with her overall game to push the Indian to commit errors.