China Masters: Indian challenge ends early as Prannoy, Sindhu crash out

What looked like a promising week for the Indians, ended in disappointment at Changzhou. H S Prannoy, coming on the back of two easy wins in the previous rounds, faced a monumental challenge in the form of top seed Chen Long. Long never loosened his grip on the match despite the occasional bursts from Prannoy and ended up victorious by a comfortable margin of 21-10 and 21-15 in 46 minutes.

P V Sindhu followed her fellow countryman out of the tournament with a straight games loss to unseeded Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand in what turned out to be a big upset. Sindhu never looked at her sharpest best but still came close in both games, only to lose 17-21, 19-21 in 38 minutes.

The last remaining Indian doubles pair in the women’s draw, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa, lost to the top seeds Luo Ying and Luo Yu 11-21, 14-21 to conclude the Indian challenge in China.