Denmark Open 2024: PV Sindhu Loses in Quarter-Final, India's Challenge Ends

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India's challenge at the Denmark Open 2024 came to an halt on Friday (October 18) when the country's top singles shuttler PV Sindhu suffered a defeat in the quarter-finals against Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung.

The former world champion Sindhu lost in three games by a scoreline of 13-21, 21-16, 9-21 to the Indonesian in the women's singles last 8 contest that lasted 57 minutes on court 1 at the Arena Fyn in Odense, Denmark.

Sindhu forced the decider after going down 13-21 in the first game by claiming the second essay 21-16, but went down without a fight in the deciding third and final game by a score of 21-9. This was Sindhu's third defeat to Tunjung in 13 outings.

Tunjung displayed command on the proceedings and reeled of eight points in a row to take the first game rather easily. But Sindhu looked a different player in the second game and raced to a 6-1 lead before her opponent levelled it six-all and rallied to a 9-7 lead.

Sindhu once again fought her way back to snatch the lead at 11-10 after the break and made it 19-15 before sealing the game 21-16 to take the match to the decider.

However, she could not sustain the momentum as Tunjung roared back to claim the lopsided game and with that, the match. The loss continues a season of discontent for the two-time Olympic medal-winning Indian, who returned empty-handed from the Paris Games.

The two-time Olympic medallist returned to the court in the BWF World Tour last week in the Arctic Open, where she crashed out in the first round. She improved on that performance this week, thanks to an easy opening round.

Earlier, the 29-year-old Indian got past Pai Yu Po 21-8, 13-7 in the first round after her opponent from Chinese Taipei was forced to retire from the contest. Later, Sindhu registered a tough 18-21, 21-12, 21-16 win over China's Han Yue in the second round.