PV Sindhu Wastes Lead, Loses 2nd Round Thriller To Exit Indonesia Open Super 1000

PV Sindhu exited the Indonesia Open Super 1000, suffering a heartbreaking defeat to Pornpawee Chochuwong at Istora Senayan, Jakarta on Thursday. Sindhu conceded the opening game lead and lost the match after leading the decider for the majority of the time, 22-20, 10-21, 18-21 in 77 minutes.

This was the Indian shuttler's fifth defeat to the Thai player in 11 meetings, with Sindhu winless against Chochuwong since the 2022 Malaysia Open.

Down 10-16, Sindhu made a massive comeback to win the first game 22-20. She saved a game point at 19-20, then won two points in a row with a smash and forced an error from Chochuwong.

In the second game, Sindhu struggled with poor judgment as Chochuwong's lifts landed in multiple times. The Thai shuttler also stretched the Indian with some delicate drop shots. Chochuwong won the game 21-10.

In the decider, it was a close game with both players staying neck and neck initially, before Sindhu broke away to a three-point lead at 11-8 at the interval. Although Chochuwong tried to play catch up, Sindhu stayed ahead with a flat flick that ran into the body of the Thai player.

As the game went on, points became hard to earn as Sindhu and Chochuwong engaged in longer and sapping rallies. However, Sindhu’s ability to stay in the game and play crisscrossing rallies forced an error from the World No. 8 Chochuwong, who played into the net to concede a 15-11 lead to Sindhu.

The shade of brilliance was on full display as Sindhu extended her lead with a backhand lift that Chochuwong got wrong.

However, the Thai player fought back valiantly and drew level as Sindhu committed unforced errors. From 16-16, Chochuwong claimed an 18-16 lead. Sindhu, however, was not bogged down. She held her calm and soon drew level at 18-18, with Chochuwong's shot going wide at the baseline.

But unlike her first-round win over Nozomi Okuhara, where both players committed numerous errors, Sindhu looked jaded at the fag end of the match. Chochuwong capitalised on Sindhu's inconsistency. She claimed the match point opportunity and then forced another error from Sindhu following a sapping rally to cruise to the quarterfinal.

"I think I should have converted the rallies to win. I was leading 16-13 in the third game, but from there, the pace got a bit faster, so I had to control the game a lot more. From that point, she took the lead and then made it 18-all. It was anybody's game at that moment," Sindhu told BWF after the match while analysing her defeat.

This is the eighth tournament where Sindhu, who slipped to World No. 21 earlier this week, has failed to go beyond the second round in 2025. This was also the third time this year that Sindhu has failed to win the decider against a top 10 player. Prior to Thursday's match, she lost to Akane Yamaguchi and Chen Yufei in the decider.

Earlier in the day, the mixed doubles pairing of Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variath suffered a straight-game defeat (7-21, 12-21) to Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand.