Indian badminton ace PV Sindhu settled for a silver medal at the BWF World Tour Finals after going down meekly against Korean teen sensation An Seyoung in the summit clash, here on Sunday.
Sindhu, the reigning world champion and two-time Olympic medallist, could neither match the pace nor breach the defence of the world No.6 Korean losing 16-21, 12-21 in the 40-minute lop-sided clash.
It was Sindhu’s third successive loss — all straight games — to the Korean in as many meetings. With this victory, An Seyoung became the first ever South Korean woman to win the season-ending title.
It was also her third straight title in Bali, following wins at the Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open in the last two weeks.
Making her third final appearance in the year-end tournament, world No.7 Sindhu looked a pale shadow of the player who had claimed the title in 2018 to become the only Indian to achieve the feat.
“It was a good game. An Seyoung is a good player so I don’t think it was going to be easy. I was prepared for a good match,” Sindhu said after the title clash.
“From the beginning I should not have given her lead because in the end I came back covering few points. It is a bit sad but lot to learn.
“It has been a good three weeks in Bali.
“So lot of positives to take from here and it's time to go back, recover and get prepared for the world championships,” added the 26-year- old.