JAKARTA, June 4: Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu suffered a second successive defeat to world No. 1 An Se Young in as many weeks to bow out of the Indonesia Open here on Thursday.
Sindhu, who had also lost to the South Korean in the quarterfinals of last week’s Singapore Open, showed spark but only in patches to go down 17-21, 14-21 in the round of 16 clash.
The defeat extended Sindhu’s losing streak against the reigning Olympic champion to 10 matches. The Indian is yet to register a win over An.
Meanwhile, the men’s doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun upset higher ranked Malaysian duo of Aaron Tai and Kang Khai Xing from a game down to reach their first ever BWF World Tour Super 1000 quarterfinals. Hariharan and Arjun won their round of 16 match 16-21, 21-15, 21-19.
The Malaysian duo had defeated India’s Satwik-Chirag pair at the All England 2026 opening round.
The Indians lost the opening game but bounced back in the second to force a decider. Though trailing the final game until 16-17, they regrouped eventually sealing the victory at 48 minutes.
They next face seventh seeds Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin of Malaysia.
Hariharan and Arjun, currently ranked 30th in the world, had defeated former World No. 6 and World Championship medalilsts Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi of Malaysia at the India Open. They were also part of the bronze medal winning Thomas Cup team this year.
In men’s singles, Ayush Shetty lost to Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong 21-16 13-21 14-21 in the round of 16.
SINDHU VS AN
The contest began on an even footing, with the scores locked at 10-10 midway through the opening game as Sindhu showcased glimpses of her best form and managed to put the Korean under pressure at times.
She briefly edged ahead at 15-14 with some aggressive strokeplay, but An responded in trademark fashion, reeling off a series of points to take a 19-16 lead.
The Korean then won two consecutive points, including a gruelling 41-shot rally, to seal the opening game.
An carried that momentum into the second game, moving smoothly around the court and racing to a 13-6 lead.
Despite finding herself on the back foot, Sindhu continued to fight for every point and narrowed the gap on a few occasions.
However, An’s consistency and court coverage proved decisive as she closed out the match to advance to the quarterfinals. (PTI)
