PV Sindhu’s difficulty in closing out third games persisted as she lost to Canada’s Michelle Li with a scoreline of 21-17, 16-21, 17-21 at the Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500 tournament on Thursday. In the pre-quarterfinals match, despite comfortably taking the opening game 21-17, PV Sindhu was pushed to a decider by Li. In the third game, Sindhu led at 14-12 and 17-16, only for Li to clinch the match with a five-point streak.
This trend is concerning, especially against Li, a player Sindhu once had a strong record against. Though Sindhu initially won 9 of their first 11 encounters, Li has now taken three out of their last four meetings, marking her fifth career win against Sindhu in 15 matches.
Dominant start, but draw ends early hope
On Wednesday, Sindhu had eased past Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand, winning 21-12, 21-8 in just 38 minutes in the first round. This win extended her record over Ongbamrungphan to 19-1. Sindhu’s powerful play in this match had given some hopes for a solid run in the tournament, but the second-round loss to Li dashed those expectations. The draw seemed favourable, with top seed Wang Zhi Yi, a potential quarterfinal opponent, being upset in the round of 16 by Korea’s Sim Yu Jin.
Lakshya Sen’s struggles continue post-Olympics
In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen exited in the first round, continuing his challenging return to form after the Paris 2024 Olympics. Sen lost 22-20, 17-21, 16-21 to Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao, marking another early exit. Since narrowly missing a podium finish at the Olympics, Sen has struggled on the European leg of the World Tour, yet to secure a win on court apart from a walkover.
Jolly and Gopichand out early, India’s bad runs goes on
The women’s doubles team of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also exited in the first round on Tuesday. Despite the setback, they remain on the edge of qualifying for the season-ending World Tour Finals. With these results, India’s mixed fortunes on the World Tour continued, with only Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty claiming titles at the French Open and Thailand Open this season.
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