India Open: Sindhu outclassed by Ratchanok

India’s hopes of fielding a finalist at the India Open Superseries were dashed as both Anand Pawar and PV Sindhu lost their semifinal matches today.

While Pawar could not find a way past the wiles of Kenichi Tago of Japan in the men’s singles, PV Sindhu was outclassed by an aggressive Ratchanok Intanon 21-12 21-6. In the other semifinals, Lee Chong Wei scored his 11th straight win over Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand, while Germany’s Juliane Schenk survived a tough encounter against Aprilla Yusawandari of Indonesia.

After a great run here that has seen her beat two Chinese opponents and the Japanese conqueror of Saina Nehwal, Sindhu was expected to run Intanon close. Moreover, Intanon had struggled in earlier matches, most notably in the semifinal against Sindhu’s compatriot Arundhati Pantwane.

It was a different Intanon who took to the court today. Unlike her previous match, where she appeared tentative, she was ruthlessly decisive today. She pounced on every offering, smashing to Sindhu’s flanks, where the lanky girl struggled to retrieve. What made the difference was of course Ratchanok’s range of strokes that kept Sindhu’s off-balance throughout.

The Indian appeared to match her opponent in the early part, but the difference became apparent after 9-all. Intanon sent the shuttle where she willed, had Sindhu scrambling to retrieve, and then fired into vacant spaces.

The Indian did not look too disheartened after the match. “I think it was close in the early part of the match,” she said. “I played well in the beginning, but I made a lot of errors. My tosses were going mid-court, and she could smash them. Once she took a lead in the second game, I could not come back. I’m happy with my tournament, reaching the semifinals, but I wish I could’ve played better.”

Earlier, Pawar too could not quite live up to the day’s expectations. Tago controlled the pace and flow, and Pawar was unable to get into rhythm. The Indian did match the Japanese in some parts of the match, but the sum total wasn’t sufficient. “Tago played a clever game,” conceded Pawar. “The shuttle was slower today, and I didn’t realise it. I should’ve done my homework. I was pushing to the back in earlier matches, but today that didn’t work. Still, I’m happy with the way I’ve played my tournament.”

Lee Chong Wei, meanwhile, played way below his level for the first two games, but managed to lift his game in the third to breeze past Ponsana. This was Lee’s 11th successive win over the Thai, who had no answers to the pace and craft of the Malaysian in the third game. The world No.1 is in his third straight India Open final, and will hope to regain the title he won in 2011.