Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu fought valiantly but was outperformed by sixth seed Han Yue of China in a gruelling pre-quarterfinal of the Badminton Asia Championships here on Thursday.
Sindhu, who is desperately seeking to rediscover her form ahead of the Paris Olympics, fought hard for an hour and nine minutes before losing 18-21 21-13 17-21 against Yue, against whom she had a flawless 5-0 record before Thursday's contest.
In other Indian results, the women's doubles combination of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa also lost in the pre-quarterfinals, going down 17-21 12-21 against third seeded Japanese pair of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida.
Sindhu vs Yue
The Indian started on a bright note in the first game and used her experience to race to a 8-4 lead, which she increased to 14-8 before the Chinese made a gallant comeback as errors started to creep up in Sindhu's game.
The Chinese engaged Sindhu in long rallies, tiring her up to draw level at 15-15.
With the momentum on her side, Yue never looked back from there on, keeping control of the proceedings to wrap up the first game in her favour.
A jolted Sindhu was in attacking mode in the next game and played aggressively, using her reach and experience to good effect to race to a 16-8 lead.
Although Yue tried her best to claw her way back into the contest, Sindhu didn't give any chance to her opponent and pocketed the second game comfortably to level the contest.
But Sindhu let the momentum slip from her hand after a good start in the decider, in which she led 8-4 initially.
The Chinese played aggressively and indulged the Indian in long rallies to tire her, and it led to errors.
From 10-10, Yue raced to 17-10 before Sindhu pocketed a few points to reduce the margin to 20-17.
Sindhu saved two game points but eventually her Chinese opponent shut the door on the celebrated Indian shuttler.
