Sindhu loses again to Tzu Ying, exits Malaysia Masters

Kuala Lumpur: Ace Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu on Friday faced a crushing defeat at the hands of Tzu Ying Tai of Taiwan to bow out of the women's singles event of the ongoing Malaysia Masters.

World No.2 Tzu Ying defeated sixth-seeded Sindhu 21-12, 21-16 in the quarter-final clash which lasted just 36 minutes.

The match started on a furious note with Tzu taking the early lead. However, Sindhu was quick to go on the attack and was able to draw the initial deficit against the World No. 2 at 7-7.

Tzu, however, took better control of the rallies and bagged four straight points to go into the mid-game interval with a two-point advantage.

After the break, the top seed shuttler from Taiwan continued to hold an advantage thanks to her superior control and won the opening game 21-16 in just 17 minutes.

In the second game, Tzu Ying improved her strokeplay and forced Sindhu to go for high risk strokes, resulting in a handsome lead.

At the interval, Tzu had a seven-point lead over Sindhu and looked all set to march into the semi-finals. Towards the end, the World Champion did manage to save five match points as Tzu looked to relax a bit. However, the struggle was short-lived as Sindhu lost the game 12-21 and exited the Super 500 tournament.

This was Sindhu's 12th loss against Tzu Ying and second since the World Championship in Basel in August last year.