India's top-ranked women's singles shuttler crashed out of China Open World Tour Super 750 tournament in the quarter-final after losing to local hope He Bingjiao on Friday, November 9.
Sindhu, who was seeded third, fought back after losing the first game to force a decider but it wasn't enough as Bingjiao clinched a 21-17, 17-21, 21-15 win to progress to the semi-final.
The world number three had headed into the match after a comfortable win over Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand in the Round of 16 tie on Thursday.
She raced to an 8-3 lead in the first game before falling behind her lower-ranked opponent in the hard-fought quarter-final. From 18-17, Sindhu let Bingjiao clinch three straight points and the first game.
Sindhu looked far more comfortable during the net exchanges in the second game but failed to maintain her intensity against Bingjiao in the decider wherein the Chinese shuttler maintained a comfortable lead throughout.
Friday's was Sindhu's third straight defeat to Bingjiao, who stretched her head-to-head advantage over the Indian shuttler to 8-5 in 13 meetings on the tour.
Sindhu has been in ordinary form since reaching the final of Asian Games in August. She bowed out of Japan Open in September in the second round, after which quarter-final exit at Victor China Open followed. She also faced a first-round exit in Denmark and a quarter-final exit at French Open last month wherein she lost to Bingjiao in straight games.
Sindhu will next be in action in the World Tour Super 500 tournament in Hong Kong, starting November 18.
She is currently in the fifth position in the Race to Guangzhou Ranking, which will determine the top eight shuttlers who will qualify for the year-ending World Tour Finals, starting December 12 in Guangzhou.
Meanwhile, India's top-ranked men's singles shuttler Kidambi Srikanth will be in action in the quarter-final of men's singles event later in the day.
After beating in-form Tommy Sugiarto in three games on Thursday, the world number nine and former champion will take on Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei today.
Ranked 19th on the Race to Guangzhou Ranking, Srikanth needs a solid effort in the remaining competitions if he is to make the eight-man men's singles field at the Tour Finals.
