Madrid masters: PV Sindhu goes down after seesaw battle

PTI

Madrid, March 29

PV Sindhu fought her heart out before going down narrowly to Thailand’s Supanida Katethong in the women’s singles quarterfinals of the Madrid Spain Masters Super 300 badminton tournament here today. Sindhu, who had finished runner-up in 2023, was beaten 24-26 21-17 22-20. The two-time Olympics medallist, who was a favourite to win after the withdrawal of Spain’s Carolina Marin, lost her cool in the end as she smashed her racquet on the court, receiving a yellow card from the chair umpire.

However, India’s husband-wife combo of B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy had a lot to cheer about as they notched up a 14-21 21-11 21-17 win over fourth seeds Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Lisa Ayu Kusumawati of Indonesia to enter the mixed doubles semifinals.

In women’s doubles, third seeds Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa lost 13-21 19-21 to the sixth-seeded Chinese Taipei pair of Lee Chia Hsin and Teng Chun Hsun in the quarterfinals.

Sindhu had a 5-3 record against the world No. 17 Supanida with the two having played some exciting matches in the last two years.

It was as much a physical battle as of skills for Sindhu, who didn’t face much resistance in the initial rounds. The start was slow for Sindhu as she found herself 3-7 behind but she rallied to take a three-point advantage.

The rallies started getting tighter after resumption as Sindhu kept ahead at 14-10. Thereafter, the momentum kept changing with Supanida grabbing two game points. However, Sindhu unleashed two timely smashes to draw level. The Indian grabbed a game point but wasted it. After a seesaw battle, Sindhu finally took the opener.

The change of ends didn’t lower the intensity as the two fought tooth and nail during some exciting rallies till Sindhu opened up a 10-8 lead. However, Supanida was quick to grab three points to enter the break with a three-point cushion. As the match wore on, Sindhu looked a bit tired. Supanida made her run with angled returns and extended the rallies. Two power-packed smashes helped Sindhu to make it 17-18. With two steep returns, Supanida took three game points and roared back into the contest.

In the decider, Sindhu recovered to take a 10-5 lead but she let it slip as Supanida reeled off five points to go 14-12 up and then grabbed five match points. A rearguard action from Sindhu raised hopes of another reversal as she drew parity at 20-20, but two unforced errors dashed the Indian’s hopes.

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