Dubai Superseries finals: PV Sindhu's semi-final prospects under cloud after loss to Sun Yu

Dubai: Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu lost her second match of the Group B of the BWF Superseries Finals to Chinese Sun Yu in Dubai on Thursday.

Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu went down 15-21, 17-21 against World No 6 Sun at the Hamdan Sports Complex.

This loss has jeopardised Sindhu’s chances of qualification for the semi-finals. The 22-year-old had beaten Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the opener and now, after this loss, faces a huge task of overcoming reigning world and Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain.

She must win the third game against the ruthless Spaniard, the oppoenent who defeated her in the Rio Games title showdown.

In the game against Sun, Sindhu lacked sharpness and that reflected in her poor challenges to the Chinese player’s delectable drop shots and half smashes.

Sindhu trailed from the beginning and never managed to equalise. At the beginning, she was trailing 3-7 and the best she managed to bridge the gap was at 8-10.

But Sun ran away with four straight points to stand at 14-8 before dropping a point and then again notching six points to be at 20-9.

Sindhu tried to delay the inevitable as she registered six straight points. But it was only a matter of point for Sun and the Chinese sealed the game at 21-15.

In the second though, Sindhu improved her game and fought for each point against Sun. But the Chinese was clearly the better player. She took a 5-2 lead but Sindhu equalised at five-point mark.

Afterwards, Sun led and Sindhu was always trailing. The Indian trailed until the 15-point mark where she equalised but Sun was determined to finish the match in the second game. Sindhu gave fight for only two more points and conceded the game 17-21.