All England Badminton Championships: PV Sindhu Takes Exit Route After Losing To An Se Young

London: Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu made a second-round exit from the All England Badminton Championships after the Indian lost to An Se-young 21-19, 21-11 in women’s singles in Birmingham on Thursday. Sindhu lost in just 42 minutes. This was also Sindhu’s 7th loss against the South Korean in as many matches. Sindhu, who is trying to reach her peak form, wasn’t able to cope with Se-young’s resolute defence.

The Korean won in Malaysia and France this season, while Sindhu is on a comeback trail after recovering from a left knee injury. The Korean shuttler showed too much pace and her ability to turn defence into attack in the blink of an eye proved costly for Sindhu.

The Indian trailed 11-8 at one time during the mid-game break. However, her strategy to attack much frequently proved costly for her as she couldn’t close out rallies in the first game. Se-young won the first game 19-21.

In the second game, Se-young was too hot to handle for Singdhu as she mixed defence with attack and booked a place in the quarterfinal. At All England Badminton Championships, two Indians have tasted success so far. Prakash Padukone won the title in 1981, while current India coach Pullela Gopichand lifted the title in 2001.

With Sindhu’s exit, India’s challenge at women’s singles ends. Earlier, Akarshi Kashyap exited in the first round.