Jakarta: Two-time Olympic medallist P.V Sindhu went down to World No. 10 Wen Chi Hsu of Chinese Taipei in the first round of the Indonesia Open BWF Super 1000 Series event here on Wednesday.
India had a mixed day in women’s doubles as Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponappa won 21-15, 21-15 against Jackie Dent and Crystal Lai of Canada while Rutaparna Panda and her sister Swetaparna went down to South Korean combine Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong 12-21, 9-21 in 36 minutes.
The focus was on Sindhu as she started her campaign in the Indonesia Open. But things did not go down as she must have expected.
Sindhu, currently ranked World No. 20, fought back after losing the first game but could not ride the momentum in the decider and went down 15-21, 21-15, 14-21 to Wen Chi Hsu in a 70-minute battle on Court 2 at the Istora Senayan Sports Palace in the Indonesian capital.
Sindhu, who won a silver medal in the Rio Olympic Games in 2016 and a bronze in the next edition in Tokyo, took time to find her rhythm as her Chinese Taipei opponent took an early lead (10-2) and maintained it. Sindhu managed to reduce the margin to 8-17 and then 15-18 before Wen the next three points to win the first game 21-15.
Wen took the early lead in the second game also but Sindhu caught up with her regularly as the scores were tied at 4-4, 7-7, 13-all before Sindhu opened up a 17-13 advantage. The 28-year-old Indian star maintained the advantage and went on to win the game 21-15 to force the decider.
Sindhu took the early lead in the decider as she opened up a 6-3 advantage. Wen Chi Hsu did cut down the lead to one point on a couple of occasions before she tied the scores 12-all on her way to a 16-12 lead, winning five points in a row.
Though Sindhu won a couple of points, the Chinese Taipei player claimed four points in succession and had multiple match points at 20-13. Though Sindhu saved one match point, she eventually lost the game 14-21 and lost the match in 70 minutes.
–IANS
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