China Masters: Indian challenge ends early as Prannoy, Sindhu crash out
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The China Masters dream ended prematurely for the Indian contingent as P V Sindhu and H S Prannoy were sent crashing out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage. Even the Indian doubles pairing of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa were eliminated from the China Masters Grand Prix Gold on Friday.
What looked like a promising week for the Indians, ended in disappointment at Changzhou. H S Prannoy, coming on the back of two easy wins in the previous rounds, faced a monumental challenge in the form of top seed Chen Long. Long never loosened his grip on the match despite the occasional bursts from Prannoy and ended up victorious by a comfortable margin of 21-10 and 21-15 in 46 minutes.
P V Sindhu followed her fellow countryman out of the tournament with a straight games loss to unseeded Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand in what turned out to be a big upset. Sindhu never looked at her sharpest best but still came close in both games, only to lose 17-21, 19-21 in 38 minutes.
The last remaining Indian doubles pair in the women’s draw, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa, lost to the top seeds Luo Ying and Luo Yu 11-21, 14-21 to conclude the Indian challenge in China.
