TOYKO: Ace shuttler PV Sindhu crashed out of the ongoing Japan Open 2023 on Wednesday, losing 21-12 and 21-13 to China’s Zhang Yiman in a round-of-32 clash.
The Indian shuttler found it hard to match the intensity of her opponent on the day as she went down tamely in straight sets.
She struggled to pick up points while Yiman cruised to a comfortable victory.
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In an Asian Games year, Sindhu is having a bad season, making a first-round exit in six of her 12 BWF tournaments.
Ealier this month, Sindhu crashed out of the Korea Open Super 500 badminton tournament, losing to Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei 18-21, 21-10, 13-21 in 58 minutes.
Sindhu’s disappointing performances have seen her to slip to 17th in the BWF world rankings, her worst slump in a decade.
Her previous highest ranking was 2nd in 2016.
After being without a coach for two years, Sindhu named Malaysia’s Muhammad Hafiz Hashim as her personal coach last week. Hashim will tie up with the ace Indian badminton star until the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Results at Japan Open will be considered in the player’s qualifying rankings for the multi-sport event at Paris.The qualification window for badminton started earlier, on May 1.
The Indian shuttler had been training on and off with Hashim at Hyderabad’s Suchitra Badminton Academy (SBA). (ANI)