Indian challenge in Indonesia Masters over as Sindhu exits

The Indian challenge in the Indonesia Masters ended after World champion P V Sindhu was beaten in the quarter-finals by Sayaka Takahashi of Japan, in Jakarta, on Thursday.

She frittered away a one-game lead and lost 21-16, 16-21, 19-21 in 66 minutes.

The world No. 6 had a 4-2 head-to-head record against the No. 14-ranked Japanese before Thursday's match.

Takahashi had defeated Saina Nehwal in the second round.

Following Sindhu's defeat, India's campaign in the BWF Super 500 tournament ended.

World Championships bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth, Kidambi Srikanth and Sourabh Verma crashed out of the tournament in the second round on Wednesday.

Sindhu began well, breaking away for a 11-6 lead in the first game. The Japanese caught up, reducing the lead to 11-12, but Sindhu was in no mood to allow her opponent to claw her way back and went 16-15 up. She took the remaining five points with ease for a 1-0 lead.

A game up, Sindhu, however, let her guard down a bit and found herself trailing all through the second game, which she lost 16-21.

Takahashi straightaway took a 7-0 lead but Sindhu fought back to reduce the gap to 4-8. The Indian could not sustain the tempo as she trailed 6-15. She recovered midway but found herself trailing 15-20 before losing the second game.

The decider was a close contest, with Takahashi 3-0 up only to see Sindhu making it 3-3. Both the players fought a see-saw battle as they were locked 10-10 and 15-15. However, from 18-18, Takahashi broke away and led 20-18. Sindhu saved a match-point but the Japanese took the next one to make the semi-finals.