Sindhu, Lakshya lose in quarterfinals

jakarta: PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen suffered straight-game losses to their respective opponents in the women’s and men’s singles quarterfinals, marking the end of Indian challenge in the $500,000 Indonesia Masters here on Friday.

Sindhu, a two-time Olympics medallist, lost to top seed and world No. 4 Chen Yu Fei of China 13-21 17-21 in the quarterfinal contest that lasted 42 minutes to bow out of the Super 500 event. With Friday’s loss, Sindhu trails Fei 6-8 in head-to-head record. The Indian’s last win over Fei was way back in 2019.

In the men’s singles, Lakshya was beaten 18-21 20-22 by Thailand’s rising talent Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul in a close match that lasted 46 minutes. The 21-year-old Thai had also accounted for 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the pre-quarterfinals.

On Thursday, Kidambi Srikanth and Anmol Kharb had bowed out of the men’s and women’s singles competition respectively.