French Open: Sindhu goes down in semifinal

P.V. Sindhu lost to Japan's A. Yamaguchi 21-14, 21-9 in a lopsided semifinal.

India's P.V. Sindhu lost to Japan's A. Yamaguchi in the semifinal of the French Open.

PV Sindhu had a below-par outing as Japan’s Akene Yamaguchi beat the World Championship silver medallist 21-14, 21-9 in a thoroughly one-sided semifinal of the French Open Super Series here today.

It took fifth seed Yamaguchi only 37 minutes to blow away the Indian challenge in the last four clash.

While the first game lasted 19 minutes, the second game’s duration was a minute less.

There was a sudden drop of intensity in Sindhu’s performance in the first game at 14-14, when Yamaguchi reeled off seven straight points to wrap it up at 21-14.

Yamaguchi repeatedly attacked Sindhu’s left side as she found it difficult to control.

The Olympic silver medallist was sluggish in her movement as Yamaguchi, with her powerful smashes, did not allow Sindhu to approach the net.

The second game was a one-way traffic as Yamaguchi straightaway went 5-0 up and, at the mini-break, was leading 11-2.

She did win a few points with some deft drop shots, but it was too late in the day, as Yamaguchi won the second game at 21-9 to make it to the summit round.