Kuala Lumpur, Jan 10 (IANS) P.V. Sindhu acknowledged that she let the game slip away after missing an opportunity to take the lead against her Chinese opponent, Wang Zhiyi, in the women’s singles semifinal of the Malaysia Open. Her impressive run at the tournament came to an end on Saturday after a straight-games defeat to the World No. 2 at the Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil.

Sindhu went down 16-21, 15-21 to the Chinese shuttler, missing an opportunity to avenge her loss to Wang, who had beaten her in last year’s final. The defeat also ended India’s challenge in the season-opening Super 1000 tournament.

The two-time Olympic medallist entered the contest as the underdog and struggled to sustain momentum against the aggressive Chinese player. Wang repeatedly forced Sindhu into baseline errors with her attacking approach and controlled the key exchanges, eventually closing out the match in just under an hour to book her place in the final.

Despite the straight-game loss, Sindhu felt the contest was more competitive than the scoreline suggested. “At this stage, it’s going to be a hard game, and there aren’t going to be easy points,” Sindhu said after the match. “There were really long rallies, and I felt it was a good game overall, even though it ended in two sets. She was on the winning side today.”

Sindhu rued letting a strong position slip in the second game, where she led 11-6 at the mid-game interval before Wang clawed her way back to level the scores at 13-13. “At 11-6, maybe I should have taken two or three points in a row to maintain the lead,” she said. “But in a match like this, you can’t expect it to be easy even when you’re leading.”

The semifinal appearance marked Sindhu’s first at a major tournament in 14 months and her first event since returning from injury, a fact that left her encouraged despite the loss. She said the performance had given her confidence heading into the upcoming Indian Open, where she will compete on home soil.

“It was a good tournament for me. It’s important that I rest now and get going for the India Open. Starting the season with a performance like this gives me a lot of confidence and motivation, especially after coming back from an injury,” Sindhu mentioned.

She also hinted that the Malaysia Open could mark the beginning of a strong comeback season. “I think it’s important that I keep going the same way and build on this confidence,” she said, hopeful of carrying her momentum into the rest of the year.

The Indian ace will now shift her focus to the India Open 2026, which begins on Tuesday at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi.

–IANS

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