Indonesia Masters 2021: PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth exit after defeat in semis as Indian campaign ends

Bali: Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the Indonesia Masters Super 750 badminton tournament after suffering straight game defeats in the women’s and men’s singles semi-finals respectively to bring the curtains down on Indian campaign in Bali on Saturday. Sindhu lost to Japanese top seed Akane Yamaguchi while Srikanth was outplayed by third seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark. Even though Sindhu had a superior 12-7 head-to-head record against the Japanese shuttler going into the tie, having won both the meetings between the two this year, the Indian was no match for her rival, losing 13-21, 9-21 in a one-sided duel that lasted just 32 minutes. Sindhu, seeded third, was not at her usual best and trailed her Japanese opponent from the start in both the games. In the second game, Sindhu had a brief lead before Yamaguchi dominated her rival throughout to seal the issue in her favour. The Japanese will now play the winner of the other semifinal between fourth seed An Seyoung and Thailand’s Phittayaporn Chaiwan. Srikanth, who had beaten compatriot HS Prannoy in the quarter-finals, lost 14-21, 9-21 to Antonsen in 41 minutes in the men’s singles semifinals. The former world number one Indian was able to hold on Antonsen initially, levelling the scores at 3-3, 4-4, 5-5 before falling behind. Srikanth made another fine recovery in the first game, narrowing down the gap to 12-11 but eventually lost steam. In the second game also, both were tied at 4-4 but the Dane took eight straight points to zoom to 12-4. The Indian could not recover from there while Antonsen never let his guard down to win the second game and the match.