Jakarta: The Indian challenge ended at the USD 1,25,000 Indonesian Open badminton tournament after PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy suffered straight-game quarterfinal defeats here Friday.
World No.3 Sindhu lost 14-21, 15-21 to Chinese World No.7 He Bingjiao in 37 minutes. It was her sixth loss to the left-handed Chinese shuttler in 11 meetings.
Prannoy, seeded eighth, went into the match with a 1-3 head-to-head count against All England champion Shi Yuqi. He fought hard in both the games but lacked the precision and lost 17-21, 18-21 to the Chinese in 39 minutes.
Sindhu was always struggling to find the rhythm against Bingjiao. She committed a number of unforced errors to hand the advantage to her rival in both the games. The first game started on an even keel with Bingjiao having a slender 11-10 lead at the break. But after it, riding on the errors committed by Sindhu, she sped to a 19-11 lead and closed the first game comfortably.
In the second Sindhu zoomed to a 5-1 lead but it soon evaporated as Bingjiao drew parity at 6-6 and then led 11-8 at the break. Sindhu then again faltered to help the Chinese build up a 17-11 lead. Bingjiao then had no problems in winning the game and with it the match.
Except for a brief period in the second game, Prannoy was always playing catch up against Yuqi who opened up a 6-3 lead early on. The Chinese never allowed Prannoy to close the gap and with some steep smashes and delectable net flicks won the first game.
Prannoy led 2-0 in the second game but it was soon 11-8 in favour of Yuqi. The Indian did manage to make it 18-all at one stage, but Yuqi reeled off three points in a row to win the game and match.
