India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu crashed out of the women’s singles category at the Malaysian Open in the first round after losing to 2016 Olympic champion Carolina Marin. The match, Sindhu’s first since her return from injury, lasted an hour. Sindhu lost 21-12, 10-21, and 21-15 as per the Olympics website. Since Marin defeated Sindhu in the Swiss Open final in 2021, this was the first encounter between the Rio 2016 finalists. It was PV Sindhu’s first game following her gold medal victory at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in August. Carolina Marin used a good combination of net play and smashes to put PV Sindhu under pressure instantly. Sindhu, ranked seventh in the world, improved as the match went on. In the second game, playing against the drift, PV Sindhu quickly pulled away from the World No 9 shuttler to lead 11-4 at the half. After the break, Sindhu extended her lead and won the set.
A fascinating last game saw PV Sindhu target Marin’s backhand while Marin resorted to body smashes. However, Marin’s utilisation of angles was crucial as she led 11-7 at the half and won the match after the end change to improve her head-to-head record against Sindhu to 10-6. At the BWF World Tour 2023 event, Sindhu’s defeat also marked the culmination of India’s women’s singles campaign. World No 8 Prannoy defeated World No 10 Sen winning 22-24, 21-12, and 21-18. Saina Nehwal, who won the bronze medal in London 2012, and Kidambi Srikanth were eliminated in the first round on Tuesday. Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly, who won the bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, will play Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva of Bulgaria in the following round of the women’s doubles competition. The Malaysia Open badminton competition will end on January 15.