Birmingham: Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu suffered an inexplicable meltdown, bowing out of the All England Championships with a three-game loss to South Korea’s Kim Ga Eun in the women’s singles opening round on Wednesday.
Sindhu, returning after recovering from a hamstring injury, squandered an opening-game advantage to lose 21-19 13-21 13-21 to world No. 21 Kim in a match that lasted just over an hour at Arena Birmingham. Playing with a blue tape on her right leg, Sindhu was cruising at 20-12 in the opening game but almost threw it away, allowing Kim to recover to 19-20 before eventually winning the game.
However, Sindhu’s form dipped thereafter, while Kim grew in confidence, which was reflected in her improved movement and shot selection.
India’s Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde, however, progressed to the second round of mixed doubles competition, prevailing 21-10 17-21 24-22 over Chinese Taipei’s Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan, ranked 41st. The duo will face fifth seeds Yan Zhe Feng and Ya Xin Wei
of China next.