India’s PV Sindhu bowed out of the Singapore Open Super 750 badminton tournament after losing to world No. 1 An Se Young in the quarterfinals on Friday.
The two-time Olympic medallist went down 21-17, 21-14 to the reigning Olympic champion in a 48-minute contest.
The defeat extended Sindhu’s losing streak against the South Korean to nine matches.
Sindhu showed attacking intent throughout the match and managed to trouble An in phases with powerful smashes and aggressive returns. However, An’s superior court coverage, control at the net, and ability to win key points proved decisive once again.
Sindhu trailed 7-11 at the mid-game interval in the opening game before fighting back to reduce the gap to 13-14. She later narrowed the score to 17-19 after winning the longest rally of the match, but a couple of errors allowed An to close out the game.
The second game started poorly for Sindhu as An raced to a 6-0 lead. The Indian recovered briefly and reduced the deficit to 6-8 before the Korean regained control to lead 11-7 at the break.
Sindhu stayed within reach at 11-14 and won a gruelling 30-shot rally to make it 12-14, but unforced errors at crucial moments disrupted her momentum. An capitalised by stretching the lead to 18-13 and eventually earned seven match points.
The Korean sealed victory on her second opportunity when Sindhu sent a return long.
An has now lost only one match this year and continues her dominant run on the world circuit. Sindhu has managed to take just one game off the Korean in their last nine meetings, at the 2023 Badminton Asia Championships.