Dubai: Top Indian shuttler PV Sindhu suffered yet another final loss, going down fighting against World No.2 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in a pulsating women’s singles summit clash of the Dubai Super Series Final here Sunday.
In the prestigious season-ending tournament finale, Sindhu played her hearts out before losing 21-15, 12-21, 19-21 to Yamaguchi in an energy-sapping summit clash that lasted an hour and 31 minutes.
The 22-year-old came agonisingly close to clinching the title before finishing runner-up once again in her third major tournament, following last year’s Rio Olympics and this year’s Glasgow World Championships.
In scenes similar to the World Championship final in Glasgow in August, the summit clash here went down to the wire as the duo engaged in a battle of attrition and nerves.
Playing her fourth final of the season, Sindhu pocketed the first game in 23 minutes. In second game, the Indian seemed slightly exhausted and ended up committing unforced errors. It helped Yamaguchi to grab the second game and roar back into the contest.
In the decider, Sindhu opened up a 4-0 lead early on, which included winning an engrossing rally comprising 51 shots. However, Yamaguchi once again clawed her way back to 5-5 with a body smash and an onrushing return at the backline.
Sindhu again eked out an 8-6 lead and eventually led 10-8 at the interval. After the change of ends, Yamaguchi was looked more determined while Sindhu made several unforced errors to hand the title to the Japanese.
The contest could have gone either way when a couple of shots on her rival’s backhand helped Sindhu claw back at 19-19. But the Indian found the net next to hand over the championship point to Yamaguchi, who sealed it when the Indian’s return got buried at the net.
press trust of india
