Former world champion PV Sindhu suffered an early exit in the Singapore Open badminton tournament in Singapore on Thursday.
The double Olympic medallist went down to World No. 5 Chen Yufei 9-21, 21-18, 16-21 in 65 minutes in a hard-fought second-round match.
In the opening round on Tuesday, she beat Canada's Wen Yu Zhang 21-14, 21-9 in just 31 minutes, but her outing on Thursday, was another story.
Sindhu, who recently slipped to world No. 17, showed glimpses of her old form against her Chinese opponent, especially in the second game where she led 19-12 before closing it out 21-18.
However, in the deciding game she struggled to match Chen's sharp smashes and court control.
It was Sindhu's seventh loss to Chen in 13 meetings, highlighting her ongoing inconsistency this season.
The 2022 Singapore Open champion failed to build momentum and while she sparkled in patches, her sluggish reflexes and lack of control in rallies allowed the Chinese star to dictate terms in the final game.
Sindhu has been off colour this year, struggling for form.
At the Malaysia Masters last week, she crashed out of the opening round of the Malaysia Masters, losing to Vietnam's Nguyễn Thùy Linh.
She lost 21-11, 14-21, 21-15 in a duel that last just an hour and three minutes.
Sindhu's Malaysia Masters opening round ouster was her fourth first-round exit in her last five tournaments this year.
The The 29-year-old had also crashed out in the opening round of the All-England Open 2025 badminton tournament after losing to South Korea’s Kim Ga Eun in March.
In a battle of attrition that lasted 61 minutes, Sindhu lost 21-19, 13-21, 13-21.
At the Badminton Asia Championships, lost to third seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the second round on Thursday. She forced the game into a decider but eventually crashed out, losing 12-21, 21-16, 16-21.
At the Sudirman Cup last month, the Sindhu-led Indian team suffered a 4-1 defeat against Denmark before crashing out of the tournament, losing 1-4 to Indonesia.
In her women's single match against Denmark, she went down 22-20, 23-21 against world No. 16 Line Kjaersfeldt despite having four game points in the first and another in the second game of the contest.
In the game aganst Indonesia, Sindhu went down 12-21, 13-21 to world number 11 Putri Kusuma Wardani in just 38 minutes.
A quarter-final finish at the India Open in January remains Sindhu’s best result this year.
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