Birmingham, Mar 12 (UNI) India's ace shuttler PV Sindhu suffered a first-round exit at the All England Open 2025 after going down to South Korea’s Kim Ga Eun in a hard-fought three-game encounter here on Tuesday.
Sindhu, who had a 1-0 head-to-head record against Kim before the match, started on a strong note but failed to sustain her momentum, eventually losing 21-19, 13-21, 13-21 in 67 minutes.
The two-time Olympic medallist began the match aggressively, taking an early lead of 4-1 in the first game.
Despite Kim levelling the scores at 6-6, Sindhu maintained her composure and secured a 11-7 advantage at the mid-game interval. She extended her lead to 17-9 before Kim mounted a late fightback, saving seven game points. However, an unforced error from Kim helped Sindhu close out the first game 21-19.
Kim responded strongly in the second game, showcasing exceptional footwork and shot placement. She took a commanding 6-2 lead and maintained a slight edge at 11-9 going into the interval. A flurry of errors from Sindhu saw her fall further behind, as Kim wrapped up the second game 21-13 to force a decider.
The South Korean maintained her momentum in the deciding game, racing to a 4-1 lead early on. Sindhu struggled to find her rhythm and trailed 7-11 at the final change of ends. Despite her attempts to stage a comeback, Kim controlled the rallies and extended her lead to 17-12 before closing out the match with a 21-14 victory.
With this loss, Sindhu made an early exit from the prestigious Super 1000 tournament, marking another setback in her campaign this season. She will now look to regroup ahead of upcoming events on the BWF World Tour.
Earlier in the day, India’s mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde progressed to the second round after a thrilling victory over Taiwan’s Hong-Chan duo, winning 21-10, 17-21, 24-22.
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