Shuttler Sindhu loses French Open semis

India's P.V. Sindhu crashed out of the $325,000 French Open Superseries after going down in straight games to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 14-21, 9-21 in the women's singles semi-final here on Saturday.

Coming into the contest with a 3-1 head-to-head record, the second seeded Indian failed to find the momentum going her way in the match that lasted for 37 minutes.

The first game saw a close contest between both the shuttlers with the Japanese sticking her neck out with a slender 11-10 lead at the breather.

Coming back, World No.5 Akane gave little away to the Rio Olympics silver medallist, as she went on gathering seven straight points to take the opening game with ease.

The second game witnessed complete domination from the Japanese shuttler, who opened up a 6-0 lead before heading to the break at 11-2.

After the break, Akane continued to hold the upper hand and took full advantage of Sindhu's numerous unforced errors to easily pocket the game and the match.

Akane will now face Taiwan's Tai Tzu Ying in the final on Sunday.

--IANS

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