Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth were out of contention for the knockout stage after losing their respective second round matches in the BWF World Tour Finals here on Thursday.
A week ago Sindhu had suffered a demoralising defeat to Ratchanok Intanon and there was no change of fate for the world champion this time too as she went down 18-21, 13-21 to the third seeded Thai.
“It wasn’t my day. Losing the first game made the difference. My timing was a bit off, so a bit disappointed,” Sindhu said.
Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong beat world number one Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan 21-17, 21-11 in another match on Thursday to qualify for the knock-out stage. Chochuwong had beaten compatriot Intanon in the first round.
The other semifinalist will be either Intanon or Tzu Ying as they face each other on Friday.
Srikanth enjoyed a 3-0 head-to-head count against Wang Tzu Wei ahead of his match but it mattered little as the Taiwanese world No 12 claimed a come-from-behind 19-21, 21-9, 21-19 win over the Indian.
Wang and Anders Antonsen of Denmark entered the knockouts from men’s singles Group B with two wins each.
With only the top two players from each group making it to the semifinals, the twin defeat sealed the fate of the Indian duo in the tournament.