New Delhi, Jan 17: Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu bowed out of the ongoing India Open 2025 after losing 9-21, 21-19, and 17-21 to Paris Olympics bronze medallist Gregoria Tunjung in the women’s singles quarterfinal of the BWF World Tour Super 750 event, here on Friday.
The star Indian shuttler fought hard to force a decider after losing the first set 9-21 but Tunjung managed to win the tie. Trailing the second game 3-9, the 29-year-old Sindhu bounced back to level the score at 9 points and then forced a decider against the error-prone Indonesian shuttler.
In the decider, Tunjung came out to seal a place in the semifinals against top seed Se Young An of South Korea. The other semifinal will have eighth-seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand against sixth-seed Tomoka Miyazaki. On Friday, all eyes were on Sindhu as she was playing her first tournament after getting married.
She is hoping to get back into the top 10 but will now have to wait a bit longer after making a premature exit from the India Open. In the previous round, former champion Sindhu brushed off the rustiness of a long competition break to register a straight games win over Sung Shuo Yun of Chinese Taipei in the second round.
Sindhu, playing her first tournament after getting married in December last year, struggled with her rhythm during the 51-minute clash against an opponent who plays both singles and doubles.
However, the two-time Olympic medallist upped the tempo when required to win 21-14, 22-20. In other matches on Friday, the fourth day of the competition which will end on Sunday, Kiran George, who made it to the main draw as a substitute player following withdrawals, went down to Weng Hong Yang of China 13-21, 19-21 in a 51-minute encounter in men’s singles quarterfinals.
Earlier, Kiran had missed three match points and saved three himself before beating Japan’s Yushi Tanaka 21-19, 14-21, 27-25 in an hour and 11 minutes in the opening round of the BWF World Tour Super 750 event. In the second round, Kiran defeated Alex Lanier of France 22-20, 21-13 to seal a place in the quarterfinals.
IANS