BAC: Sindhu, Prannoy, Doubles pair ousted, India’s campaign ends
This was Sindhu’s first loss against the Chinese shuttler in six meetings.
World No 6 PV Sindhu and World No 9 Saina Nehwal crashed out of the 2019 French Open badminton tournament after losing their respective quarterfinal matches.
On Friday night, newly crowned World Champion Sindhu lost to World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying 21-16, 24-26, 21-17 in a fiercely-fought match which lasted for an hour and 15 minutes at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin.
Earlier, Saina’s campaign in the Super 750 tournament came to an end after she lost her quarterfinal clash to 17-year-old South Korean An Se Young. In a contest that lasted for almost 50 minutes, the teenager edged past Saina 22-20, 23-21 to enter the semis of the competition.
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However, there was good news for India’s top-ranked men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty who continued with their imperious form and shocked Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen to enter the semifinals.
The Indian duo, which had claimed its maiden Super 500 title at the Thailand Open in August this year, shocked the World No 8 Danish 21-13, 22-20 in a 39-minute quarter-final encounter.
This is the second time on the trot that the pair has reached the last four of the Super 750 tournament.
Satwik and Chirag will now take on the Japanese fifth seeds Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe for a berth in the finals.
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