India’s P.V. Sindhu went down in straight games to Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the women’s singles final of the Spain Masters, a BWF World Tour Super 300 event, in Madrid on Sunday.
Second-seeded Sindhu went into the final with a 7-0 head-to-head advantage over Tunjung. However, the fifth-seeded Indonesian came out all guns blazing and thrashed the Indian 21-8, 21-8 in just 29 minutes to clinch the title. Tunjung had earlier beaten Rio Olympic gold medallist and home favourite Carolina Marin the semifinals.
Sindhu, who reached the final without dropping a game, struggled to time her shots as Tunjung took a 5-1 lead in the opener. The Indian reduced the deficit to two points (5-7) before her Indonesian opponent started dominating the rallies with her superior movement and down-the-line smashes. Tunjung went into the mid-game interval with a five-point lead (11-6).
Things did not get any better for Sindhu as Tunjung continued to unsettle her by mixing things up. Soon, the Indonesian stretched her lead to 10 points (17-7) before wrapping up the opener in just 11 minutes.
Tunjung dominated the second game with more of drop shots and cross-court net shots. She led 11-3 at the break and had no trouble in finishing the match in just under half an hour as Sindhu, facing 12 championship points, netted a return.
Two-time Olympic medallist and former world champion Sindhu came into the 2023 season after a five-month injury layoff. She suffered first-round exits at Malaysia Open, India Open, All England Championships before reaching the second round at Swiss Open.
Sindhu currently trains under Vidhi Chaudhary following the exit of Korea’s Park Tae Sang. Under Park, the Indian had won bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
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