Sindhu trips over Seyoung hurdle in semis

Suncheon, April 9

PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth’s impressive run ended in the semifinals after they went down in straight games at the Korea Open Super 500 badminton tournament here today.

Sindhu, who came into the tournament after claiming the Swiss Open, suffered her fourth successive defeat to 20-year-old An Seyoung, losing 14-21 17-21 in 48 minutes.

For Srikanth, it ended in yet another semifinals finish as he came up short against Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie, going down 19-21 16-21 in 50 minutes.

Sindhu, seeded third, tried everything at her disposal but couldn’t find a way to get past the world No. 4, who gave ample display of her athleticism and precision, leaving the Indian to do the catch-up job from the start.

The second-seeded South Korean rode on her superb retrieving skills to gallop to a 6-1 lead early on. Next she dived twice in quick succession on both flanks to blunt Sindhu’s attack and sealed it with a delightful drop.

Two powerful returns took Sindhu to 4-7 but Seyoung came up with two precise returns to gain a healthy 11-6 lead at the break. —