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PV Sindhu was Defeated by Carolina Marin
In the opening round of the Malaysia Open Sindhu got defeated by Marin. The two-time Olympian PV Sindhu struggled in her eagerly anticipated return from injury.
But on-form HS Prannoy continued his phenomenal run into the 2nd match of the Malaysia Open Super thousand badminton tournament on Wed. After hurting her left ankle while pursuing a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in August, PV, who finished in sixth place, fell to Marin of Spain, the current Rio Olympic champions, a minute before one hour.
Earlier, India's eighth-ranked men's singles player Prannoy claimed a new title after defeating Lakshya 22-24, 21-12, 21-18 in a thrilling first-round match.
The player from Kerala now will have next match against Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo. Beating both Choi Sol Gyu (21-16) and Kim Won Ho (21-13) from Korea, Satwiksairaj and Chirag qualified for the quarterfinals.
The Indonesian team of Shohibul Fikri and Bagas, who are ranked fifth in the world, will face the world's top pair. But Malvika couldn't prevail over the first barrier and then she was defeated by An Se Young who is a Korean player.
Supissara and Puttita from Thailand defeated Ashwini and Shikha in the women's doubles match. Opponent Marin had a difficult recent history after suffering ACLs in both knees, and Sindhu held a record of five and nine against her.
India got out to a shaky start and had trouble completing, which gave an aggressive Marin team an 11-3 advantage at the half. With precise returns, the Spaniard quickly jumped to 8 points and converted them when he had the chance.
Sindhu paid it forward in the 2nd game, taking a commanding 7-point lead into halftime. The Indian took advantage of the Spaniard's many trips to the net to score 10 game points by hitting some fantastic shots and appearing more polished at the net.
When Marin again stumbled in her net play, Sindhu successfully converted. Marin regained her composure in the decider, holding Sindhu at bay. After Sindhu missed the mark, the Spaniard entered the break leading by four points.
Upon restart, Marin delivered another body smash as Sindhu dropped to 8-14 due to a mistake in judgement. When Sindhu struck out, Marin was able to get to 19-13.
Marin had six match chances after Sindhu scored in game. She blew one after making a service error and then used another body return to put her opponent in a tight spot and won the match.
The two fought fiercely from the outset of the bout, living up to its high billing. At the half, Prannoy had a two-point advantage thanks to their fast-paced play, but Sen quickly pulled even at 13-13.
The score was briefly tied at 19-19 after several disputed line calls. Sen later gained a point for the game but wasted it. Prannoy quickly earned 2 game points, but he also missed it.
