BWF World Tour Finals: PV Sindhu’s Dismal Form Continues, Loses To Yamaguchi

World Champion PV Sindhu failed to break out of her bad form as she kicked off her 2019 BWF World Tour Finals campaign with a loss against Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the group A match. Sindhu lost 21-18, 18-21, 8-21 to the Japanese shuttler in an hour and eight minutes.

Sindhu started the game on a positive note as she won the first set 21-18. Things looked good for Sindhu even in the second game as she managed to get a four points lead early in the game. However, Yamaguchi, who has never been an easy customer for Sindhu, made a solid comeback winning five points on the trot in the second game to level the scores from being 10-15 down. From there on Yamaguchi never looked back and took the second game with a similar margin as the Indian in the first game to force a decider.

In the decider, Sindhu looked rusty as the Japanese took an early 5-0 lead. Sindhu showed glimpses of return but could only score 3 points before the break as she trailed 3-11 at the interval. From there on Yamaguchi never allowed Sindhu to settle down and ensured that the latter did not reach double digits and sealed victory in the decider with a margin of 21-8.

Sindhu’s head-to-head record against Yamaguchi now reads 10-7 but the Indian has lost to the Japanese in their last three meetings.

Sindhu, who is placed in group A along with Chinese duo of Chen Yu Fei and He Bing Jiao and Yamaguchi, will next be seen locking horns with China’s Chen Yu Fei in her second group A match. Sindhu has dominated Chen Yu Fei in the past as she enjoys a 6-3 record. However, given the current form of Sindhu, who is going through a rough patch, and Yu Fei, who has been in rampaging form this season, things do not look good for the World Champion.

In order to keep her alive in the tournament and advance to the next round the Indian shuttler will have to win both of her next two games.