Photo: 25Sindhu
She loses to An Se Young in French Open final
Paris: PV Sindhu put up a spirited fight before losing to world No 1 An Se Young of South Korea in the women’s singles
final of the $950,000 French Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Sunday.
The two-time Olympic medallist went down 21-16, 11-21, 12-21 to the Olympic champion, who claimed her fourth French Open title and 11th crown of the season.
Sindhu started aggressively, using her reach and attacking strokes to take the opening game in 20 minutes. It was only the second time in 11 meetings that she had managed to win a game against the Korean, having never beaten her.
An bounced back strongly in the second game, capitalising on Sindhu’s errors to level the contest. The Indian struggled to contain the world No 1’s sharp smashes and precise net play as the Korean raced to a comfortable win.
Sindhu fought hard in the decider and opened up an 8-5 lead, but An drew level at 8-8 before moving ahead at the interval.
The Korean then took control, winning six of the last seven points before the interval and extending her advantage with a series of powerful smashes and accurate placements.
An earned eight match points and converted the first to seal the title.
