Indonesia Open: PV Sindhu falls to Olympic champion An Seyoung in second round

India’s challenge in women’s singles at the Indonesia Open came to an end on Thursday as two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu suffered a straight-games defeat to reigning Olympic champion and world No. 1 An Seyoung in the second round.

The South Korean star continued her dominance over Sindhu, extending her unbeaten head-to-head record to 9-0 with a 21-17, 21-15 victory in 44 minutes to secure a place in the quarter-finals, according to Olympics.com.

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Sindhu matched An stride for stride for much of the opening game, with the scores locked at 16-16 before the top seed raised her level at the crucial moment, winning five of the next six points to take the lead in the contest.

An carried that momentum into the second game, taking control early and opening up a commanding 17-8 advantage. Although Sindhu fought back to reduce the deficit, the Olympic champion comfortably closed out the match to book a quarter-final clash against Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong.

Former world junior bronze medallist Ayush Shetty and mixed doubles combination of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani registered hard-fought wins to advance to the second round of the Indonesia Open badminton tournament here on Wednesday.

Shetty defeated China’s Weng Hong Yang 8-21, 22-20, 21-15, while Rohan and Ruthvika upset world no 20 Yang Po-Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang of Chinese Taipei 21-14, 21-14 to advance, according to a release.

Thomas Cup 2026 Bronze medallist Ayush came from a game down to beat world no.15 Weng for the second time in a row. Though he surrendered the first game, Ayush took an early lead in the second with a 4-point advantage at 8-4. Weng reacted quickly to close the gap, reaching his second game point. From 19-20, the Indian scored the crucial three points, forcing a decider.

While the second was an intense battle, Shetty earned a comfortable 6-point lead and maintained the advantage to close the match at an hour and six minutes. The Indian had defeated Weng previously at the Thomas Cup in April.

In mixed doubles, Rohan and Ruthvika outplayed the higher-ranked Chinese Taipei pair, Yang Po-Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang, in straight games in just 34 minutes. Tough battle awaits as they meet the defending champions, Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue of France, in the next stage.

In women’s singles tomorrow, PV Sindhu has to survive An Se Young’s threat to advance, while Hariharan-Arjun meet Malaysia’s Kang Khai Xing and Aaron Tai, who advanced after their opponents, Satwik-Chirag, exited during the opening game due to the former’s injury.

Also Read: Satwik injury forces India’s star doubles pair out of Indonesia Open

(With agency inputs)