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PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth lose openers at BWF World Tour Finals

By, Bangkok
Jan 27, 2021 10:39 PM IST

Against the same opponent, the world champion needed a similar all-out attack mentality from the start on Wednesday.

The last time PV Sindhu outclassed world No.1 Tai Tzu Ying was at the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Championships, which she eventually won, becoming the first Indian to do so.

PV Sindhu in action. File(AFP)
PV Sindhu in action. File(AFP)

Against the same opponent, the world champion needed a similar all-out attack mentality from the start on Wednesday. That was not to be as the Taiwanese second seed took less than an hour to win the Group B tie 19-21, 21-12, 21-17 on the opening day of the BWF World Tour Finals at the Impact Arena in Bangkok.

“It was a good match, there were no easy points,” said Sindhu after her third straight loss to the Asian Games champion. “In the third game I came back and it was just one point difference at one stage. I broke my racket strings twice (during rallies) and that made a difference. Otherwise, it was a good game.”

Though Sindhu clinched the opening game, Tai Tzu enjoyed the cushion of a few points throughout. It was only at 17-19 that Sindhu surprised the Taiwanese by clinching four straight points to win the game. The 25-year-old Indian was playing catch up in the last two games with Tai Tzu, much more confident after reaching the finals of the two Thailand Opens, staying ahead.

“I have played two tournaments now and it’s very tiring. It was quite difficult for me to fully focus on court today. I had the lead early in the first game but then I started to rush things and that led to the unforced errors, which was unfortunate,” said the world No.1, who extended her head-to-head advantage to 13-5.

Sindhu next faces local favourite Ratchanok Intanon, who beat her last week and is 5-4 ahead in career meetings. “It’s a tough group. It really depends on that day. I have to give 100 percent,” said Sindhu.

Former world No.1 Kidambi Srikanth also lost his Group B opener 21-15, 16-21, 18-21 in an hour and 17 minutes to Danish second seed Anders Antonsen.

“I can’t say I’m happy with the way I played today because I was playing much better in training before I came here,” Srikanth said after his second loss in three meetings against the world No.3. “I had my chances and could have won from 17-16 in the third (game). The main motto for me is to play as many matches as possible because I haven’t been winning matches over the last two years. So, I really want to play matches with the top-four, top-eight players.”

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This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
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