Mulheim (Germany): Ace Indian shuttler P.V Sindhu crashed out of the 2022 German Open Super 300 badminton tournament, losing to China’s Zhang Yi Man in the second round, here on Thursday.
Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu lost to the 2021 World Championship bronze medallist Zhang Yi Man 14-21, 21-15, 14-21 in a match that lasted 55 minutes.
Former world champion Sindhu, who is currently ranked World No. 7, started the match on expected lines and dominated early exchanges. However, the Chinese shuttler, ranked 34 in the world, took eight consecutive points after trailing 3-5 and maintained her lead to clinch the first game.
The Indian mounted a comeback and took the next game to bring the contest on level terms. The see-saw battle continued in the deciding game but Sindhu’s younger opponent chipped in regularly with successive points to win the match, an olympics.com report said.
Later in the day, Saina Nehwal will take on the eighth seed Ratchanok Intanon from Thailand. Apart from Saina, top Indian men’s badminton players Kidambi Srikanth, Lakshya Sen and H.S Prannoy will also be in action in their second-round matches.
In doubles, the men’s pair of Ishaan Bhatnagar-Sai Pratheek will face Indian compatriots Krishna Prasad Garaga-Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala for a place in the next round.
On the other hand, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will face top seeds from China Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan in the women’s doubles.
(IANS)
