Sun Chun (South Korea): PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth’s impressive semi-final run came to an end after they lost back-to-back matches at the Korea Badminton Open Super 500 here on Saturday.
Former world champion Sendo, who competed after winning the Swiss Open, suffered a fourth consecutive loss to 20-year-old Ahn Seung, losing 14-21 17-21 in 48 minutes.
For World Championships silver medalist Srikanth, it ended up being another semi-final where he didn’t face Asian Games champion Jonathan Christie, losing 19-21, 16-21 in 50 minutes.
Sindhu, the third seed, tried everything but couldn’t find a way past the world number four. the beginning.
The second-seeded Korean used impressive rebounding skills to advance 6-1 early in the game.
After that, he jumped twice in a row to each side to stifle Sindhu’s attack and seal it with an impressive drop.
Sendo came back strong at 4-7, but Seung came on with two sets of replays, physical punches and then another over the head to take a healthy 11-6 first-half lead.
Sindhu tried to pick up his pace, but An Seyoung offered several shots to stay ahead. The Indian scored a few points with a spike, but couldn’t put the pressure on the Korean.
Seyoung knocked out two weak shots from Sindhu and then pocketed eight match points, two of which were saved by the Indian, before the Koreans fired a forehand to take it comfortably.
Sindhu started with the score 3-0 after the substitutions ended, but soon An Seyoung went 5-3.
The Indian picked up two quick points before the game turned into a close battle with Sind’s smooth return to the front court which was matched by a powerful punch from the Koreans.
A long shot followed by a clean winner from Sindhu to keep the score at 9-9, but Korea spared no effort to recover it and quickly took a two-point lead when Sindhu fired one in the net.
Sindhu had taken a break in his opponent’s neck at 12-14 as the Koreans advanced from long distance and at the net.
An An Seyoung’s serve error made it 14-16 before the Korean returned to the court, and with Sindhu also hitting two shots, it was an 18-14 lead for the home star.
Sind collected all three points to keep the match alive, but An Seyoung sent another point on India’s backhand, which then went into the net to award Corrie the three points of the match.
Seyoung unleashed another smash to end the match and knelt happily.
In men’s singles, Srikanth and Christie entered the competition having won four matches in their eight professional encounters, with India losing in the semi-finals at the Swiss Open last month.
On Saturday, Indonesia was even more vigilant and showed greater control over rallies to deceive Indians.
Srikanth kept it all in the opener, leading 9-7 before securing a three-point halftime lead.
Christie tried to pick up speed in the rally and leveled 13-13 after Srikanth scored.
The duo made it 17-17 before a powerful smash and a perfect forehand return to their opponent gave Indonesia two match points.
The Indian saved a goal before slotting the ball into the net to cash in the opener.
Christie got off to a good start with a 3-0 lead and held the score at half-time, with Srikanth lacking consistency with the finishing touches.
With an unintentional error from Indonesia, Srikanth made it 11-12 before taking a bad 14-13 lead. But Christie responded well and took six points to make it 19-14.
The Indonesian had five match points, while Srikanth saved one before Christie came back fast to win her second straight BWF World Tour final.
