Badminton Asia Team C'ships: Indian Women's team knocked out after crushing defeat
PV Sindhu, who was shouldering India's slim hopes of beating a strong Korean side in the quarter-final of the Badminton Asia Team Championship, was blown away by Sung Ji Hyun's stunning display. Later, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa lost their doubles fixture, as Korea won a very one-sided match 3-0.
In the opening tie of the match, World No.6 Sung Ji Hyun took on PV Sindhu, and the Korean dominated the game from start to end. Sung started the match aggressively and went 5-1 ahead in no time at all. Sindhu did fight her way back to momentarily take the lead at 11-10, but Sung conceded only two more points as she won the first game 21-13.
In the second game, Sindhu struggled to keep up with the pace, and precision, of Sung's returns as the Korean raced to 5-0, and she extended her lead to 6-0 with a stunning 312 kmph smash. The 24-year-old, who won the Syed Modi International in January, was toying with Sindhu, and took a 11-1 lead, before eventually winning the game at 21-14. It was Sung's third win over Sindhu, with the Indian star still holding the edge in head-to-head statistics with four victories.
The pair of Kyung Eun Jung and Seung Chan Shin extended Korea's lead to 2-0, with a hard-fought win over Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa in the doubles tie. In the next tie, PC Thulasi was under a lot of pressure to deliver against World No.14 Bae Yeon Ju, but it ended up being another one-sided affair, as Korea took an unassailable lead of 3-0, and with it, they grabbed a place in the semis.
Brief scores:
Singles: PV Sindhu lost to Sung Ji Hyun 13-21, 14-21
Doubles: Jwala Gutta/ Ashwini Ponnappa lost to Kyung Eun Sung/ Seung Chan Shin 15-21, 22-20, 13-21
Singles: Thulasi PC lost to Yeon Ju Bae 14-21, 15-21