India's PV Sindhu went down in the semifinals after relentlessly fighting top seed Shixian Wang of China in the Asian Badminton Championship on Saturday.
The two-time reigning All England champion Shixian defeated India's teen sensation 21-15, 20-22, 12-21 in an hour and 18 minutes, hence bettering the career head-to-head record to 2-3 against the Hyderabadi.
"Overall, Sindhu played well," national coach P Gopichand said after the match. "It was an extremely close and long match. She was up 20-18 but she lost two points while serving. You need a bit of luck in such close matches.
"It's okay, at the end of the day, you will win some and lose some. I am happy with the way she is playing."
Though Sindhu put up a good show in the beginning, the world no. 2 was too hot to handle. The inexperience of the 18-year-old was evident as she lost control of the match gradually. Sindhu's father, Ramana said the World Championships bronze medallist needed more experience to work out the Chinese game plan and succeed.
"It was a close match and she could have won it in the second game itself," a supportive Ramana said. "But I guess she needs a little bit of experience to consistently beat these Chinese players. Anyway, now she will be playing in Uber Cup, so that is the next target."
In women's doubles, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa too settled for bronze in the Asian Championship.
The world no. 13 duo lost to the world number 10 Chinese pair Luo Yu and Luo Ying 12-21, 7-21. The Indian pair has lost all three encounters against this opposition.
