Olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu yet again struggled to go past China's He Bingjiao and bowed out of the China Open World Tour Super 750 here on Friday.
Third-seeded Sindhu, who clinched three silver medals this season—Commonwealth Games, World Championship and Asian Games—lost 17-21 21-17 15-21 to the eighth-seeded Chinese in the quarterfinal.
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It was Indian shuttler's third loss to Bingjiao, who had defeated her at the Indonesia Open and French Open in July and October this year.
Sindhu frittered away a 8-3 advantage early on to lose the opening game but made a roaring comeback in the second before losing the decider after a late charge.
Sindhu had started well to take a 4-1 lead early on before moving to 8-3 but Bingjiao managed to claw back at 9-9. The duo moved neck and neck till 15-15 when the Chinese moved ahead with three straight points. Sindhu made it to 17-18 before Bingjiao pocketed the opening game.
In the second game, Bingjiao surged to 4-2 but Sindhu turned the tables as she moved to 6-5 and then grabbed a 11-7 lead. She kept distance despite the Chinese snapping at her heels.
In the decider, Bingjiao was more sure-footed than Sindhu as she executed her plan well to take a 11-6 advantage at the interval. The Chinese managed to take a 15-8 lead before Sindhu produced a late charge to claw back to 15-16.
But Bingjiao didn't give any chance to the Indian after that as she reeled off the remaining points to cement her place in the semifinals.
