Malaysia Masters: Sindhu loses in final after late meltdown

PTI

Kuala Lumpur, May 26

PV Sindhu blew away an 11-3 lead in the deciding game of the Malaysia Masters final against Wang Zhi Yi, missing out on a great opportunity to end her title drought here today. The trophy was well within her reach but the world No. 15 suffered a meltdown after the final change of ends to go down 21-16 5-21 16-21 against the Chinese world No. 7 in 79 minutes.

Fifth seed Sindhu’s last wins came at the Singapore Open and the Commonwealth Games in 2022. She finished runner-up at the Madrid Spain Masters last year. Interestingly, Sindhu had defeated Wang in the Singapore Open final.

The title would have been the icing on the cake but her impressive run to the final will still give her a lot of confidence as Sindhu looks to put the finishing touches ahead of the Paris Olympics.

“It’s sad that I didn’t get the result that I had expected. I should have pulled it off, maintaining the lead, but there were really good rallies,” Sindhu said.

“Overall, I can say that it’s been a very good match. It’s a bit disappointing, but a lot of positives to take from this match and the whole tournament as well. I am happy that I reached the finals, I played well. These matches will definitely give me a lot of confidence,” she added.

Sindhu used a combination of poise and power to dominate the proceedings against the reigning Asian champion for most part of the match but it all fell apart after the break in the decider as the trophy slipped out of her hands. Sindhu she fell into a pool of errors as Wang won 18 of the next 23 points to seal the trophy.

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