Bangkok: Ace India shuttler PV Sindhu on Wednesday went down fighting against world number one Tai Tzu Ying in her first group match of the women's singles event at the World Tour Finals.
Sindhu, the reigning world champion, went down 21-19, 12-21, 17-21 in a match that lasted almost an hour.
In the opening game, Tzu Ying started off brilliantly and took a healthy lead at the mid-game break. However, the Indian staged a brilliant turnaround as she came out with a spirited performance and went on the clinch the game 21-19 in 20 minutes.
In the second game, the world number one, however, raced to a 6-0 lead against Sindhu. The Indian did try to stage a comeback but the Taiwanese was too good and won the game 21-12 to force the match into the decider.
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In the third and final game, the Rio Olympic silver medallist did show some fight but it wasn't sufficient as Tzu Ying won the 21-17 to seal the match.
"It was a good match, there were no easy points. In the third game I came back and it was just one point difference at one stage. I broke my racket strings twice (during rallies) and that made a difference," Sindhu said.
"It's a tough group. I have to give 100 per cent."
It was Sindhu's 16th defeat to Tzu Ying in 21 meetings.
The 25-year-old Indian will next face Ratchanok Intanon, who defeated her last week in a lop-sided Thailand Open quarter-final clash.
Sindhu has to win at least two matches in the Round Robin stage to make it to the semi-finals. Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand is the fourth member of Group B.
The World Tour Finals, offering total prize money of $ 1,500,000 this year, is played by the eight highest-ranked players in the rankings in each of the five events: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles.
The eight entries are then divided into two groups of four. The group matches are played in a round-robin format, with the top two finishers in each group advancing to the semi-finals.
Sindhu is the only Indian to win the tournament as she went all the way in 2018.
