China Open: China’s He Bingjiao knocks out PV Sindhu in quarters

India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu’s China Open 2018 campaign ended prematurely after she lost 17-21, 21-17, 15-21 to China’s He Bingjiao in the women’s singles quarterfinals.

As Saina Nehwal withdrew from the tournament, Sindhu was the only Indian left in the women’s draw and after coasting through her first two matches, much of the same was expected in the last eight match against her lower-ranked opponent. The eighth-seeded Chinese player had other ideas and put in a accelerated her performance to beat Sindhu 21-17, 17-21, 21-15 in a match lasting an hour and nine minutes.

.#FuzhouChinaOpenSuper750 Update

??World No 3⃣@Pvsindhu1 goes down fighting 17-21,21-17, 15-21 to China’s #HEBingjiao in her QF clash.#IndiaontheRise #badminton pic.twitter.com/9KwKwCgLtk

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) November 9, 2018

Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara will now face He Bingjiao in the semi-finals. The seventh-seeded Japanese star had faced little problems in her last eight match against compatriot Sayaka Takahashi, who she beat 21-4, 21-10.

However, Sindhu was far from her best.

Sindhu had started well in the first game and had even led 8-3 at one time but He Bingjiao was at her resilient best. Inspite of playing catch up for most of the first game, Bingjiao won the points when it mattered most.

Simply excellent by He Bingjiao #badminton #HSBCBWFbadminton pic.twitter.com/HBbrzpFgc8

— BWF (@bwfmedia) November 9, 2018

Then the game hung in the balance with both players tied at 14-all but the Chinese got some breathing space by winning three consecutive points. Sindhu did win back-to-back points herself to make it 17-18 but the Chinese won three points in a row to wrap up the game.

Sindhu was pretty much leading from start to finish in the second game, managing to keep a healthy gap to He Bingjiao to send the match into a decider.

However, Sindhu could not carry on her momentum into the decider and was completely knocked out. Ms Bingiao led from the start and despite the Indian clawing her way back to make it 15-16, the Chinese won five consecutive points to make sure there was no comeback from Sindhu.

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