Bangkok: Double Olympic medalist PV Sindhu fought hard before losing to Ratchanok Intanon when the Indian women’s badminton team crashed out of the Uber Cup final after being beaten 0-3 by Thailand in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
World No. 7 Sindhu was of color for the second consecutive day as she lost a one-game lead to beat 21-18, 17-21 12-21 against Intanon, the eighth, in a 59-minute first match for women in singles .
Due to the defeat, Sindhu now follows Intanon 4-7 on a personal best.
India trailed 0-2 when women’s doubles Shruti Mishra and Simran Singhi lost 16-21 and 13-21 to Thai Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawanda Prajongjai.
It wasn’t better for Aakarshi Kashyapwho surrendered 16-21 11-21 to Pornpawee Chochuwong in the second singles match that lasted 42 minutes.
As Thailand took an unassailable 3-0 lead, the remaining two games of the draw were redundant and were not played.
In the second women’s doubles, Indian pair of Tanisha Crasto and Treesa Jolly faced Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Aimsaard, while Ashmita Chaliha was scheduled to face Busanan Ongbamrungphan.
Earlier on Wednesday, Sindhu lost 15-21 14-21 in two consecutive games to world number four An Seyoung in India’s final Group D game, where it was knocked out 0-5 by Korea.
But the loss barely made any difference as India had already secured a place in the quarter-finals by then securing a top two place in the group after successive wins over Canada and the US.
The Indian men’s team will play in the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup Final against Malaysia later in the day.
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