Vantaa — Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu fought valiantly before suffering a narrow three-game defeat against top seed and world No. 5 Ratchanok Intanon in the women's singles quarterfinals of the USD 500,000 Arctic Open Super 500 tournament on Friday.
Seeded sixth in the competition, Sindhu lost 21-11, 19-21, 21-18 to her formidable opponent in a grueling encounter that lasted one hour and two minutes. With this hard-earned victory, Intanon extended her head-to-head advantage over the Indian star to 10-4.
Sindhu had previously advanced to the quarterfinals following a straight-game victory over Japan's Riko Gunji in the second round, where she posted a 21-15, 21-15 win. The 31-year-old shuttler from Hyderabad was looking to build on her earlier success this season, which included capturing the Japan Open Super 750 title in July.
Following Sindhu's exit, attention in the tournament shifted to other matches, including the men's doubles pairing of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Pruthvi Krishnamurthi Roy, who were scheduled to face Denmark's Christian Faust Kjaer and Rasmus Kjaer later in the day.