SUZHOU: Double Olympic medalist PV SindhuThe brave fight of Sudirman Cup countryside, descending to the dreaded Chinese Taipei in the first round here on Sunday.
However, the Indian players didn’t miss a fight as Tanisha Crasto and K Sai Prateek started on a high note in the mixed doubles contest but eventually fizzled out, losing 21-18 24-26 6-21. in the world no. 30 Yang Po-Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang.
World number 9 HS Prannoy then couldn’t find his ‘A’ game, going down 19-21 15-21 to world no. 5 Chou Tien Chen as India trailed 0-2 after the first two matches.
Sindhu was then given the responsibility of bringing India back to the draw, but it was always going to be a difficult task with his nemesis and former world number one. 1 Tai Tzu Ying standing through the net.
The 27-year-old from Hyderabad, who hasn’t been at his best lately, produced a gritty performance after the opening game reversal but couldn’t go the distance with Tai Tzu managing a 21-14 18-21 21-17 win in one hour and four minutes.
This gave Chinese Taipei an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-game draw.
The last time Sindhu beat Tai Tzu was en route to her World Championship title in 2019. Overall, it was her 18th loss to the Taipei player.
Sindhu, whose best result this season so far was a final appearance at the Spain Masters, however, looked much more polished in her overall game as she showed great resilience in the second and third games after having lost the first.
While Tai Tzu seemed by far the better player in the opener, Sindhu managed to pick up the pace in the second to bring the match to the decider.
In game three, the duo went neck and neck to 6-6. Tai Tzu then took a 9-6 lead but Sindhu continued to look for angles to confuse the Taipei assistant.
An angled forehand drive put Sindhu level at 10-10 before his opponent entered the break with a one-point lead.
After the restart, Sindhu led 14-12 but she sprayed twice towards the net to make it 15-14 in favor of Tai Tzu. Another long shot and Tai Tzu went 17-14 with a deceiving shot.
The touch artist played a few of his sensational shots before a smash down the line gave him five match points. Sindhu saved two before Tai Tzu unleashed a quick serve return from the Indian to win the match.
However, the Indian players didn’t miss a fight as Tanisha Crasto and K Sai Prateek started on a high note in the mixed doubles contest but eventually fizzled out, losing 21-18 24-26 6-21. in the world no. 30 Yang Po-Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang.
World number 9 HS Prannoy then couldn’t find his ‘A’ game, going down 19-21 15-21 to world no. 5 Chou Tien Chen as India trailed 0-2 after the first two matches.
Sindhu was then given the responsibility of bringing India back to the draw, but it was always going to be a difficult task with his nemesis and former world number one. 1 Tai Tzu Ying standing through the net.
The 27-year-old from Hyderabad, who hasn’t been at his best lately, produced a gritty performance after the opening game reversal but couldn’t go the distance with Tai Tzu managing a 21-14 18-21 21-17 win in one hour and four minutes.
This gave Chinese Taipei an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-game draw.
The last time Sindhu beat Tai Tzu was en route to her World Championship title in 2019. Overall, it was her 18th loss to the Taipei player.
Sindhu, whose best result this season so far was a final appearance at the Spain Masters, however, looked much more polished in her overall game as she showed great resilience in the second and third games after having lost the first.
While Tai Tzu seemed by far the better player in the opener, Sindhu managed to pick up the pace in the second to bring the match to the decider.
In game three, the duo went neck and neck to 6-6. Tai Tzu then took a 9-6 lead but Sindhu continued to look for angles to confuse the Taipei assistant.
An angled forehand drive put Sindhu level at 10-10 before his opponent entered the break with a one-point lead.
After the restart, Sindhu led 14-12 but she sprayed twice towards the net to make it 15-14 in favor of Tai Tzu. Another long shot and Tai Tzu went 17-14 with a deceiving shot.
The touch artist played a few of his sensational shots before a smash down the line gave him five match points. Sindhu saved two before Tai Tzu unleashed a quick serve return from the Indian to win the match.
