A fighting HS Prannoy edged out Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama to progress to the semi-finals but two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu couldn’t find a way to get past her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament here on Friday.
Prannoy, a former top 10 player, weathered the storm against world No. 14 Tsuneyama to emerge victorious 25-23, 22-20 in the 60-minute quarter-final clash.
A week after being outwitted by the Taiwanese at Malaysia Open, Sindhu, seeded seventh, once again fell short against the world No. 2, losing 13-21, 21-12, 12-21 in a 55-minute clash.
It was Sindhu’s 17th career defeat to the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Tai Tzu, who has prevailed over the Indian in all their last seven meetings.
The last time Sindhu had defeated Tzu Ying was en route to her 2019 World Championship gold in Basel.
It was business as usual for Tzu Ying as she rode on her precision and deceptive game to get past a fighting Sindhu, who once again flattered to deceive.
Tzu Ying made her intent clear from the start, as after an initial close duel, she managed to pull away from 10-9 to jump to 15-9 and held her fort to take lead in the match.
