India's challenge at the Badminton Asia Championships ended after double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy bowed out in pre-quarterfinals of their respective events here on Thursday. Sindhu, who is desperately seeking to rediscover her form ahead of the Paris Olympics, fought valiantly for for an hour and nine minutes but was outperformed by sixth seed Han Yue of China 18-21 21-13 17-21. Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel It was Sindhu's first loss against Yue against whom she had a flawless 5-0 record before Thursday's contest. Seventh seed Prannoy went down meekly to unseeded Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei 18-21 11-21 in just 43 minutes. In another Indian result, the women's doubles combination of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa lost in the pre-quarterfinals, going down 17-21 12-21 to third seeded Japanese pair of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida. Sindhu vs Yue
=========
The Indian started on a bright note in the first game and used her experience to race to an 8-4 lead, which she increased to 14-8 before the Chinese made a fine comeback as errors started to creep up in Sindhu's game. The Chinese engaged Sindhu in long rallies, tiring her up to draw level at 15-15. With the momentum on her side, Yue never looked back from there on, keeping control of the proceedings to wrap up the first game in her favour. A jolted Sindhu was in attacking mode in the next game and played aggressively, using her reach and experience to good effect to race to a 16-8 lead. Although Yue tried her best to claw her way back into the contest, Sindhu didn't give any chance to her opponent and pocketed the second game comfortably to level the contest. But Sindhu let the momentum slip away after a good start in the decider, in which she led 8-4 initially. The Chinese played aggressively and indulged the Indian in long rallies to tire her, and it led to errors. From 10-10, Yue raced to 17-10 before Sindhu pocketed a few points to reduce the margin to 20-17.
PM Modi hails Indian women's Badminton Asia Team Championships win
India Open: Has Prannoy conserved enough energy to face raging Rajawat?
India Open 2024: Prannoy fends off Rajawat, Sat-Chi sail through to last 8
Badminton Asia Championships: Sindhu wins; Lakshya, Srikanth lose opener
All England Open 2024: India's full schedule, live match timings, streaming
Nagal takes a set off world number 7 Rune before Monte Carlo Masters exit
Candidates: Gukesh downs Abasov to jump into joint lead with Nepomniachtchi
Paris 2024: Neeraj Chopra to compete in Finland's Paavo Nurmi Games
Superb Sreejesh fails to save India from losing 1-2 against Australia
Badminton Asia Championships: Sindhu wins; Lakshya, Srikanth lose opener
Sindhu saved two game points, but eventually, the Chinese shut the door on the celebrated Indian shuttler. Prannoy vs Chun-Yi
============
Prannoy never looked confident even though he and his rival went neck and neck for the first eight points. Chun-Yi seemed to have figured out Prannoy's game as he took a 11-7 lead at the break in the first game. Prannoy used all his experience and shots in his reservoir to claw his way back and level the scores at 15-15 before the Chinese Taipei shuttler pocketed three straight points from 18 apiece to take the lead. Prannoy started the second game on an aggressive note and raced to a 4-1 lead. It was then that Chun-Yi raised his game and turned the match on its head with some fine drop shots and aggressive smashes to outwit the Indian and maintain a 11-8 lead at the change of ends. From there on the Chinese Taipei shuttler never looked back as he pocketed six straight points from 15-11 to emerge the winner.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
