PV Sindhu loses final at Spain Masters to lower-ranked opponent

India's badminton ace PV Sindhu lost the Spain Masters 2023 final in straight games on Sunday.

Playing in her first final of 2023, Sindhu finished runner-up in the Super 300 tournament as she suffered a 21-8, 21-8 loss to lower-ranked Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in Madrid.

In what turned out to be a one-sided final, Sindhu never looked in contract at any point of the game as she made constantly made mistakes. On the contrary, Mariska was at her best in terms of intensity as she powered her way to her maiden title on the BWF tour.

Sindhu recently returned from a five-month injury lay-off. Following a series of early exits in tournaments, the Indian star also lost a place from the top 10 of the rankings. Even though she had never lost against the Indonesian opponent before, Sindhu threw away the opportunity to win her first title in as long as eight months.

Sindhu, a former world champion at Spain Masters, last won a title at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in August 2022, while her last world tour crown came at the Singapore Open in July last year.

The 27-year-old badminton player, who hails from Hyderabad, currently trains under Vidhi Chaudhary following the exit of Korea's Park Tae Sang. She entered the tournament in Madrid following a failed bid to defend her title at the Swiss Open.

During the week the Indian showed glimpses of her brilliance as she didn't drop a game en route the final. However, Sindhu lost the first game in the final in just 11 minutes. Sindhu was made to run around the court by Tunjung, who dictated the pace with her flurry of strokes. Sindhu seemed to have no answers to her young opponent's strokeplay as the Indian went 1-6 down in the second game.

Tunjung produced some excellent defensive skills as well. From being 16-4 up, Tunjung went to 19-6 in no time before ending the game 21-8, 21-8.