Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu lost to the reigning world champion An Se Young of the Republic of Korea in the second round of the All England Open women’s singles event in Birmingham on Thursday.
Sindhu, 11th in the rankings, went down to the world No. 1 Korean shuttler 21-19, 21-11 in the round of 16 of the BWF Super 1000 event.
It was Sindhu’s seventh loss against An Se Young in as many matches.
The Indian used the court well at the start of the first game to open up a 4-1 lead. However, An Se Young quickly recovered to equalise at 4-4 and lead 11-8 at the mid-game interval.
The Korean countered Sindhu’s aggressive play with blocks and placements to attain a six-point advantage at 17-11.
Sindhu, a former world champion herself, unleashed powerful smashes to cut down the deficit to just one point at 20-19 but An Se Young, courtesy of an early lead, eked out a narrow win in the first game.
Though Sindhu won the first couple of points in the second game, An Se Young’s ability to change gears swiftly proved too tough a challenge for Sindhu. Consequently, Sindhu’s deficit increased after the mid-game interval and her challenge fizzled out in 41 minutes.