World no.7 PV Sindhu and Srikanth Kidambi have bowed out of Indonesia Masters 2021 after suffering excruciating losses in their respective semi finals. Sindhu was coming on the back of a convincing quarter-final win as she was favorite to advance into the final. However, a 21-13, 21-9 straight game loss to Akane Yamaguchi meant that the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist had to pack her bags early. On the other hand, Srikanth also suffered straight game defeats to Denmark’s Anders Antonsen by 21-14, 21-9.
Going into the semi final clash Sindhu had momentum on her side with wins in couple of meetings in 2021 against Yamaguchi. The Japanese no.1 was determined to put her previous frustrations aside as she attacked from the start with incredible smashes and wrapped up the match in just 32 minutes.
The top-seeded Indian star was far from her best as she was dominated in the early parts of the contest. Astonishing court awareness, powerful backhands gained Yamaguchi an early advantage. After poor first game, Sindhu was expected to come back blazing, but again, she failed to deliver the goods. Despite having a better head-to-head record of 12-7, the two-time Olympic medalist couldn’t match the intensity of her opponent.
It wasn’t a different story for Shrikant as well. Danish no.1 Antonsen dominated right from the word go and was in complete command. Unforced errors from the 28-year-old meant that he lost momentum and looked like a pale shadow of his own.
With this, all the Indian hopes of capturing glory in Indonesia came to an end. The attention now moves to the Indonesia Open 2021 where Srikanth is scheduled to play fellow Indian Prannoy H. S. in the opening round. On the other hand, PV Sindhu will open her campaign against Aya Ohori of Japan in the same tournament. The Indonesia Open 2021 kicks off on November 23.
