Every time P.V. Sindhu allowed Bellaetrix Manuputty to claw her way back into the game at the 17th Asian Games badminton here on Thursday, it was clear that the ghosts of the Uber Cup were torturing her.
Sindhu and the Indonesian had played a close thriller in the Uber Cup semifinal in New Delhi in May and though the Indian had won that encounter, last evening she spoke a few times about the 25-23 decider that match had strayed to.
On Thursday, despite holding a huge 10-4 advantage in the second game after winning the first, the eighth-seeded Sindhu failed to break the Bellaetrix puzzle and lost 20-22, 21-16, 22-20 in the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals at the Geyang Gymnasium here.
“I think I could have finished it in the second game when I was leading but I made simple errors,” said the 19-year-old who was playing her maiden Asian Games.
Everything appeared to be in Sindhu’s favour before the match.
She was a bronze medallist at the recent world championship, the world No. 10, her long limbs almost cover the entire court. The Indian even had a 2-1 head-to-head edge over the unseeded Indonesian.
Despite the big leads that she created, Sindhu could not finish off the matchFor a brief while in the second game, one saw Sindhu back to her old impressive self as she raced from 5-0 to 9-2 with some fantastic smashes while Bellaetrix fell into a pool of errors.
But the 25-year-old Indonesian had the strength to shake herself and fight back hard. She kept the shuttle low, to force Sindhu to lunge frequently in an effort to tire her out. She also attacked Sindhu’s body and slowly the Indian’s game went to pieces.
Despite her lower ranking, the Indonesian was the aggressor, returning shots from tough angles and she was back on her feet quickly for the next attempt. From 4-10, Bellaetrix fought her way to 14-all and even led 20-15 before taking the second game.
She led 10-5 in the decider but Sindhu, in a last, desperate act, fought her way to level at 11. The scores were close after that. This was a stage when both players conceded plenty of negative points. Sindhu missed a sitter of a smash, hitting air, as Bellaetrix moved to 20-19, her first match point.
Sindhu looked drained at this point, she couldn’t move freely, she desperately looked around, searching for that last bit of magic… a miracle perhaps.
But there was none as the Indonesian won the match on her second match point.
Meanwhile Saina Nehwal, the sixth seed, brushed aside Iran’s A. Soraya and entered the women’s quarterfinals.
The results (prefix denotes seeding): Women’s singles pre-quarterfinals: Bellaetrix Manuputty (Ina) bt 8-P.V. Sindhu (Ind) 20-22, 21-16, 22-20; 6-Saina Nehwal (Ind) bt A. Soraya (Iri) 21-7, 21-6.
