Shenzhen: Star Indian shuttler P V Sindhu’s woeful run against world number one An Se Young continued as she suffered a straight-game defeat against the Korean in the women’s singles quarterfinals of the China Masters Super 750 badminton tournament here on Friday.
The two-time Olympic medallist went down 14-21 13-21 in 38 minutes against the 23-year-old Korean, who clinched gold at the Paris Games. It was Sindhu’s eighth loss on the trot to An, against whom she is yet to record a single win.
Sindhu started poorly and trailed 1-6 before narrowing it to 5-9 with a delicate cross-court drop.
However, An used her trademark smashes to open up an 11-5 lead at the interval. Sindhu managed to close in at 11-14 but the Korean maintained her grip and sealed the opener when the Indian buried one into the net.
In the second game, Sindhu briefly led 3-2 but An soon regained control. The Indian tried to push with attacking play and trailed 7-8, but the An’s superior deception and variety helped her go into the break 11-7 ahead.
An pulled away to 14-7 after resumption and never looked back.
Sindhu played some fine front-court drops and round-the-head smashes to gather a few points but the Korean was always a step ahead.
The Korean grabbed eight match points with a cross-court smash and sealed it when Sindhu erred again.