An erratic P V Sindhu suffered yet another semifinal defeat at the prestigious All England Championships as she went down tamely in straight games to sixth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in the women’s singles here on Saturday.
Sindhu, the reigning world champion, couldn’t match the pace, power and precision of her younger world number 11 rival Chochuwong and lost 17-21, 9-21 in a match that lasted 43 minutes.
“I think it was her day, everything she was hitting was on the line, I just couldn’t do anything about it. Overall, I should’ve controlled my unforced errors, maybe things could’ve been different,” Sindhu said. “I knew it was going to be a good match, she’s not an easy player. Her strokes are really good and she’s going to be a really good player.”
The world No 7 Indian had also lost at the semifinal at the 2018 edition of the tournament.
“Everybody aims to be in the final, it’s over for now so I have to learn from my mistakes and take the positives. I don’t have a tournament for another month so I have time to prepare and come back stronger,” Sindhu, the Olympic Silver medallist, said.
Sindhu, seeded fifth, came into the semifinal contest with a 4-1 head-to-head lead over the 23-year-old Chochuwong, whom she had beaten at the World Tour Finals in January.
But all that statistics didn’t matter as Chochuwong showed immaculate defence and agility to outclass the Indian.