PV Sindhu faces heart break as she loses to Chen Yufei in the Pre-Quarter Round
Sindhu had four match points in the second game but Chen came back to force a decider. In the last game, the Indian shuttler had the early edge until Chen surged ahead in the closing stretch to seal the match.
XtraTime Newsdesk: China's Chen Yufei made a remarkable comeback to defeat India's PV Sindhu 16-21, 22-20, 21-18 on Thursday and enter the quarterfinals of China Open 2026.
Sindhu had four match points in the second game but Chen came back to force a decider. In the last game, the Indian shuttler had the early edge until Chen surged ahead in the closing stretch to seal the match.
Earlier, the fourth-seeded Chen dominated the opening game, jumping out to a 12-6 lead. Sindhu, however, clawed back into the game, drawing level at 16-16 before breaking away with a brilliant finishing kick to win the opening set 21-16.
The Indian shuttler maintained control of the tie and had a chance to seal it after garnering four match points at 20-17 in the second game. But now it was Chen's chance to build a comeback, scoring five consecutive points to force a decider, which she won.
Chen, the 2020 Olympic gold medallist, will meet the winner of Ratchanok Intanon vs. Nguyễn Thùy Linh in the quarterfinal.
