Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu suffered an inexplicable meltdown, bowing out of the All England Championships with a three-game loss to Korea's Kim Ga Eun in the women's singles opening round on Wednesday. (Day 2 Blog | More Badminton News)
There was however good news for India in the women's doubles where the Commonwealth Games bronze medal winning duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand de♑feated Shuo Yun Sung and Chien Hui Yu of Chinese Taipei 21-17, 21-13 to make𓂃 the last-16.
The two-time Olympic medallist, Si🗹ndhu, returning after recovering from a hamstring injury, squan𝓀dered an opening-game advantage to lose 21-19, 13-21, 13-21 to world number 21 Kim in a match that lasted just over an hour at Arena Birmingham.
Sindhu, 29, was cruising at 20-12 in the opening game but almost threw it away, allowing Kim to recover t⛄o 19-20 before eventually winning the game.
However, Sindhu’s form dipped thereafter, while Kim grew in confidence, whi🌜ch was reflected in her improved moveme♌nt and shot selection.
It was yet another disappointing result for world number 16 Sindhu, who had exited in the opening round of꧋ the Indonesia Masters in January, following a quarterfinal🔴 finish at the India Open Super 750 to start the year.
India's Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde, however, progressed to the second round of mixed doubles competition, prevailing 21-10 17-21 24-22 over Chinese Taipei🍌's Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan, ranked 41st.
The duo will face fifth seeds♋ Yan Zhe Feng and Ya Xin We♏i of China next.
Sindhu vs Kim
Sindhu had defeated Kim in their only meeting in 2019 Hong Kong Open but was coming into the event afterꦉ withdrawing from the🐭 Asia Mixed team championships due to a hamstring injury.
Playing with a blue ♒tape on her🐈 right leg, Sindhu had a strong 3-0 start, which included her trademark forehand cross.
However, Kim surpassed her at 5-4 after the Indian𓆉 made a few judgement errors and miscued a shot.
Sindhu's ability to put the shuttle in awkward positions and close out rallies with wh♔ipping, precise smashes helped her take a handy four-point lead at the break.
With Sindhu in full fl🌱ow, the score soon reached 15-9 in the Indian's favour.
Kim tried to make a contest of it but couldn’t p✅ierce Sindhu’s defence and also succumbed t🍌o unforced errors in desperation.
The Indian, however, suffered an inexplicable meltdown, squande💯ring seven of them before finally sealing the game when Kim went wide.
𓆏Kim carried her momentum into the second game, racing to a 4-1 lead.
The Korean looked in complete control, using a sharp cross-court sm♓ash to stretch her a♐dvantage to 7-2.
However, a series of errors pegged Kim bacꩲk.
💎 The short rallies started to go Sindhu’s way as Kim’s shots drifted wide or long, allowing Sindhu to close the gap to 6-9.
Despite the pressure, Kim managed to take a crucial 42-shot rall🗹y, heading into the interval with a two-point lead.
After the break, Kim maintained her intensity, keeping Sindhu on the back🔯 foot and extending her lead to 17-12 with another powerful cross-court smash.
A costly service error from Sindhu handed Kim seven game pointꦕs.
Sindhu then found the net, allowing the♛ Korean to level the contest and bounce back into the match.
Kim looked like a different player in the d🐈ecider, moving well and hitting her shots with greater precision, making life difficult for Sindhu as she j🍬umped to a 7-2 lead.
Kim cont♉inued to challenge her with precise angled returns on both flanks, holding an 11-7 lead at the final mid-game break.
The Indian also made too many errors, including hitting the net and sending the shuttle long or wide, as Kim extended her le⭕ad to 17-11.
A deceptive drop shot and a forehand cross handed Ki𒈔m eight match🎃 points.
Si🐽ndhu saved one before faltering again at the net.
