China Masters: Sindhu, Anupama bow out after losing second round matches

Shenzen (China): Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Anupama Upadhaya suffered early exits from the ongoing China Masters after losing their respective second round matches here on Thursday. Sindhu lost to Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min 16-21, 21-17, 21-23 in the one hour and nine minutes encounter. It was Sindhu’s seventh straight tournament where she failed to progress beyond quarter-final this year. The ace Indian shuttler lost the first game despite once levelling the score 14-14 but failed to carry on the momentum as the World No. 13 went on to claim the opener. However, Sindhu bounced back strong in the next game to recover from 11-8 deficit to close it on 21-17 to drag the match to the third game. The 29-year-old Indian started the final game on high with an early lead of 6-3 before further strengthening it to 13-9 but it was Yeo Jin who turned the tide in her favour and shifted the momentum after making it 15 all. She continued her point-winning streak and added three consecutive points to keep the Indian at bay. Sindhu, however, tried her level best to gain the valuable lead in the crunch situation but eventually bowed down to Singaporean 23-21. On the other hand, Anupama lost to Japan’s Natsuki Nidaira in straight games 21-7, 21-14 to end her campaign in the tournament. The Indian proved to be an easy opponent to World No. 26 Natsuki and she faced little to no hindrance in the 36-minute long encounter to move to the quarter-final. The mixed doubles pair of B. Sumeeth Reddy and N. Sikki Reddy gave a walkover to their Chinese opponent after the latter was diagnosed with food poisoning and pulled out of the match. In the men’s singles, Lakshya Sen will take on Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke in the second round match and in the men’s doubles Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will face Danish duo of Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard. –IANS