Sindhu goes down in two sets in the Indonesia Open Final

P V Sindhu’s hopes of breaking a seven-month title drought came crashing down as the Indian lost in straight games to Akane Yamaguchi in the finals of Indonesia Open BWF Tour Super 1000 tournament here Sunday.

Seven months after becoming the first Indian to win the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals in December, Olympic silver medallist Sindhu had an opportunity to finally lay her hands on another crown, only to squander.  

She lost 15-21 16-21 to the Japanese in a lop-sided summit clash that lasted 51 minutes here.

This was Sindhu’s fifth loss to Yamaguchi in 15 meetings. The last time the Indian lost to the Japanese was at the semifinals of the All England Championship last year.

The defeat added to Sindhu’s list of runners-up finishes, which include silvers at the World Championships, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Thailand Open and India Open last year. It was Yamaguchi’s third title of the season after claiming crowns at German Open and Asian Championship.

It's her first Super 1000 title and a big pay day, winning $87,500.

It was the first final of the year for Sindhu but she'll have to wait for a first title of the year. The Olympic silver medallist wasn't quite at her best today, against Yamaguchi who was completely on top of her game. Sindhu's back in action at the Japan Open from July 23.