US Open 2023: PV Sindhu stunned by lower-ranked Chinese; Lakshya enters semis after winning all-Indian QF

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Council Bluffs (US), Jul 15: Star India shuttler PV Sindhu suffered a straight-game defeat against a lower-ranked opponent in the quarterfinals to bow out while Lakshya Sen kept the Indian challenge alive after marching into the semi-finals of the US Open Super 300 badminton tournament here.

Sindhu, who is ranked 12th in the world and seeded third in the competition, was stunned 20-22 13-21 by 24-year-old Gao Fang Jie of China in women's singles.

Lakshya - who is fresh from the title triumph in Canada Open - defeated compatriot S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian 21-10 21-17 in an all-Indian men's singles match on Friday (July 14) night.

Lakshya will face second seed Li Shi Feng of China in the semifinals. The Indian enjoys a 5-3 win-loss ratio against Feng. Olympic medallist Sindhu appeared to be fighting hard against her Chinese opponent, ranked 36th in the world, but the Indian's inability to win long rallies proved to be crucial in the opening game.

Sindhu was completely overpowered in the second as Fang Jie upped her game and gave little room to the Indian to approach the net and play her drop shots. Sindhu had defeated Korea's Sung Shuo Yun to secure a place in the quarterfinals.

In an all-Indian affair, third seed Lakshya easily got the better of promising 19-year-old Sankar Muthusamy from Chennai. Lakshya was extremely confident in his rallies and it showed in the final match statistics as he won 42 rallies while Sankar Muthusamy could manage only 27 in a contest that lasted 38 minutes.

(With PTI inputs)