It was a disappointing day for Indian fans as PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal crashed out in the quarterfinals of Super 500 Malaysia Masters played at Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
PV Sindhu has been crashed out in the quarterfinals after losing to Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in two straight sets by 16-21, 16-21. In the first game, Sindhu was erratic, committing a lot of mistakes and could not convert her leads into winning positions.
At the interval, Sindhu led 11-9. After the interval, the Indian again committed lots of errors which Tai Tzu Ying took advantage of it. From 16-16 onwards, Tai Tzu Ying took 5 points in succession to win the first set at 21-16.
In the second game also, Sindhu was too slow off the blocks as Tai Tzu Ying dominated the proceedings right from the word go. At the interval, Tai Tzu Ying took an 11-4 lead. After the interval, the Indian tried her best to come back. From 11-20, Sindhu registered 5 successive points, but it was a little too late. Tai Tzu Ying won the 2nd set also with a similar scoreline of 21-16. This was Sindhu’s second successive loss to Tai Tzu Ying. She lost to Tai in the quarterfinals during French Open 2019.
Saina Nehwal had a disappointing outing as she lost to Olympic Champion Carolina Marin in two straight sets by 8-21, 7-21. Saina could not maintain the speed of Spaniard and lost the match easily.
In the first game, the Indian was too slow, and Marin showed her class. At the interval, Marin had an 11-7 lead. After the interval, Marin made life tough for Saina and gave away 1 point to the Indian. Marin won the first set easily at 21-8.
In the second game also, Marin showed her dominance right from word go and created a lot of pressure on Saina. At the interval, the Olympic Champion led 11-6. After the interval, it was one-way traffic as Marin played aggressive badminton to win the second set at 21-7. With this loss, the Indian challenge at the Malaysia Masters ends.
The next challenge for the Indian shuttlers would be the Indonesian Masters.