PV Sindhu, Shetty-Rankireddy crash out of Indonesia Open 2021

All three Indian shuttlers were beaten in the semifinals of the tournament.

PV Sindhu’s run at the Indonesia Open 2021 came to an end when she was defeated by Thai shuttler Ratchanok Intanon in the women’s singles semi-finals. The Indian star failed to outwit the world No. 8 as she ended up being overpowered in a thrilling encounter.

The Indian shuttler came into the match high on confidence after a dominant win in the quarter-finals. She began strongly, riding high on confidence and putting Intanon under pressure. Sindhu picked up crucial break points and won the first game 21-15, putting herself in a comfortable position.

However, Ratchanok proved her ability to thrive under pressure after that point. She rallied back and dominated Sindhu in the second game, forcing out errors from her. The Thai shuttler won the second game 21-9, setting up the final one with everything at stake.

PV Sindhu failed to recover from the thrashing of the second game. She was unable to regain her composure and could not seem to win the key points in the decisive third game. At the end, Ratchanok fought hard to win the third game – picking up a 15-21, 21-9, 21-14 win to move into the finals of the Indonesia Open.

Shetty-Rankireddy falter

Indian duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had fought their way to the men’s doubles semi-finals of the Indonesia Open. But on Saturday, they faced their biggest test yet, against world No.1 men’s doubles duo of Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo.

In nine previous meetings against the Indonesian pair, Shetty and Rankireddy had never won before. That record, unfortunately, did not change in the semi-finals as well. The Indian shuttlers began the game looking sharp, but were not able to match the intensity of their opponents.

They fell to a 16-21 loss in the first game and despite some impressive stroke play, the Indians were not able to oust their opponents. In the second game, Shetty and Rankireddy were fighting for their survival in the tournament and worked really hard to get one more game.

However, they ultimately came up short – as Gideon and Sukamuljo won the second game to pick up a 21-16, 21-18 win and knocked the Indians out of Indonesia Open.

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