Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu lost to China’s Gao Fang Jie in straight games while third seed Lakshya Sen overpowered compatriot Sankar Muthusamy to move into the semifinals of the US Open Badminton in Iowa.
Sindhu’s campaign in the tournament came to an end as she went down 22-20, 21-13 against the Chinese in the quarter-finals. This was her fourth loss to Gao Fang Jie in five head-to-head meetings.
Lakshya Sen defeated spirited teenager Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian 21-10, 21-17 in his last eight encounter.
On the badminton courts of the MId-America Centre, Sindhu was made to play catchup to Gao Fang Jie for most of the first game.
Despite the dominance of the Gao Fang , the Indian kept attacking and levelled the scores at 20-all. However, Sindhu’s effort ffell short as the Chinese won the final two points to take the lead.
The second game was closely-fought early on with the lead exchanging hands several times. With the scores tied at nine-all Gao Fang Jie won five consecutive points to take a healthy lead. The Chinese kept firm control on the proceedings and pocketed the match in 49 minutes.
Later Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen dominated Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian and raced to a 7-1 lead early on. Lakshya, who won the Canada Open earlier this month, rode the momentum to take the first game.
The second game saw Sankar Muthusamy put up a sterner fight but it wasn’t enough to push the match to a third game. Lakshya won the contest in 38 minutes.
The Indian, currently 12th in the badminton rankings, will face reigning All England champion and world No. 7 Li Shi Feng of China next ffor a place in the final.
Interestingly, the two shuttlers met in the Canada Open final last week, where Lakshya emerged as the winner. Head-to-head, the Indian holds a 5-3 record over Li Shi Feng.
