India’s badminton challenge at the Fuzhou China Open ended after PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth were knocked out by He Bingjao and Chou Tien Chen in the quarterfinals respectively. Saina Nehwal hadn’t participated in the tournament as she withdrew her name before the tournament commenced.
The Olympic silver medallist was in control of the most part of the first game but couldn’t match the Chinese’s superb control and deception and succumbed 21-17. The World No. 3 didn’t let it affect her performance in the second game as she spearheaded her way to win it with the identical scoreline.
In the decider, He Bingjao took an unassailable 15-8 lead, but Sindhu cut it short at 16-15. However, the Chinese showed no mercy after that and didn’t drop a single point to win the match 21-17, 17-21, 21-15.
Kidambi Srikanth started his game against the Taiwanese in a backfoot as he fell behind 16-8 at one instant. The former World No.1 never regained his mojo as he lost the set 14-21. The second set also had the same story as Chou took an impregnable 10-4 lead. The World No. 3 didn’t halt his run and won the match 21-14, 21-14.
Later in the day, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also lost to Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan 11-21, 21-16, 12-21 in the Men’s Doubles event. With their loss, India’s challenge at the Fuzhou China Open called for the curtains.
