Denmark Open 2021: PV Sindhu falls short in quarter-finals, India’s campaign ends
PV Sindhu lost in straight games to South Korea’s An Se-Young in the quarter-finals of the Super 1000 event. Sameer Verma pulled out of his match due to injury.
India’s PV Sindhu bowed out of the Denmark Open 2021 badminton tournament following a 21-11, 21-12 loss to An Se-Young of South Korea in their women’s singles quarter-finals on Friday.
Later, India’s Sameer Verma was forced to pull out of his quarter-final tie against Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia due to injury. He was down a game, losing 21-17, before pulling out.
It thus marked the end of India’s campaign in the tournament.
Earlier, world No. 8 An Se-Young took 36 minutes to wrap up a comfortable win against the 26-year-old PV Sindhu at the Odense Stadion.
An Se-Young, 19, kept a close eye on PV Sindhu’s net game and didn’t allow her to boss the proceedings before opening up an 11-4 lead in the first game.
Though PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, looked to challenge An Se-Young with some cheeky returns and well-worked rallies, nothing troubled the 19-year-old Korean as she took an early lead in the match.
PV Sindhu, ranked No. 7, was quick to take the fight to her young opponent in the second game as the Indian shuttler ditched her net play and engaged with some powerful drives from the backcourt.
Though this helped PV Sindhu gather some points, An Se-Young made good use of the court to push the Indian into difficult positions and enjoyed an 11-8 lead going into the mid-game interval.
An Se-Young continued her assault -- pocketing eight straight points from thereon -- before sealing the match with a delightful crosscourt smash towards PV Sindhu’s weaker side to seal the tie.
An Se-Young will face Kristy Gilmour of Scotland who beat Spain’s Clara Azurmendi 21-15, 19-21, 21-11 for a place in the final on Saturday.