5 min readJan 23, 2026 04:53 PM IST
First published on: Jan 23, 2026 at 04:53 PM IST
For the fifth straight time, PV Sindhu couldn’t crack the Chen Yufei code. For the second straight week, Lakshya Sen was knocked out by a speedy left-handed shuttler, this time Thailand’s Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul. And so India’s top singles stars bowed out in straight games in their respective quarterfinals at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 in Jakarta.
Sindhu lost 13-21, 17-21 in 42 minutes, in a chaotic finish with the Indian receiving a red card towards the backend of the second game. Lakshya would rue not converting his chances in either of the games as he lost a tight encounter 18-21, 20-22 in 46 minutes.
Entering this contest on a run of four straight wins against Sindhu, Chen quickly ran into a 5-0 lead. Sindhu finally got on board with an aggressive early take at the net. Then it was the Indian’s turn to whip out one of the classics, as she nailed a crosscourt smash winner for 3-5. When she is in good rhythm, enabled by her textbook footwork, Chen has the uncanny knack of intercepting shuttles early instead of taking the safer option from the backcourt. Two such points helped her go up 8-4.
A signature Chen half-smash to Sindhu’s backhand set up an 11-8 lead for the Chinese at the interval. She kept building on it to move ahead 15-9, and the writing seemed to be on the wall for Sindhu in the opener. A couple of impressive winners came too little too late for the Indian.
The late surge of points towards the end of the first game seemed to have given Sindhu some momentum as she took a 4-2 lead after changing ends, putting away a couple of rare loose returns from Chen. Despite a couple of soft errors that prevented her from taking a bigger lead, Sindhu would have been happy with 11-9 at the interval.
Chen, as she does, crept back into the game at 11-12 when Sindhu lost her second review, albeit challenging a close line call at the frontcourt. And promptly, the next rally saw Sindhu lose her composure as a fairly straightforward line call went against her. The shuttle did seem to go wide in real time, but Sindhu’s tendency to waste challenges came back to haunt her. The Indian’s protests to the umpire weren’t received well, and she ended up receiving a yellow card for misconduct. A rattled Sindhu soon found herself down 12-16.
To make things worse, a couple of points later, Sindhu was called out for delaying the game – a harsh call that even seemed to startle Chen as she was only just getting ready to serve – and it resulted in a red card for the Indian, leading to a point default. Sindhu was understandably upset, but there was nothing she could do. Despite the chaos, Sindhu fought back to close the gap down to a point before Chen eventually closed the game out 21-17.
While it proved to be a disappointing exit for the Indian, Sindhu took to X to say that she felt she was moving in the right direction.
“Every now and then, the roar finds its way back. A tough loss when decisions shape the match. Progress is showing. Time to keep building,” the 30-year-old wrote on Friday.
Left-handed nemesis
For Lakshya, it was a knockout blow dealt by a lefty for the second straight week. After Lin Chun Yi at the India Open last week, it was Teeraratsakul’s turn to cause all sorts of angle issues for the Indian in a straight-games win. After a tight start where both players traded one-point leads constantly, Lakshya edged ahead 11-9 after a superb attacking rally from both players ended with a stinging midcourt smash from the Indian.
Teeraratsakul showed he has a mean lefty smash too, right out of the interval with one that caught Lakshya on the backfoot for 11-11. They stayed in touch with each other till 15-15 when the Thai youngster pushed ahead by a couple of points after unforced errors from Lakshya. Teeraratsakul moved into a 19-17 after another sensational rally that saw both men paint all four corners before a deft touch at the net from the Thai won him the point. Lakshya faced two game points down 18-20, and after a high-tempo flat exchange at the net, couldn’t breach his opponent’s defence and dropped the opening game.
Much like Sindhu, Lakshya started well from the far side, opening up a 3-0 lead with a superb reflex backhand block winner that floored Teeraratsakul, which caused a significant delay in medical treatment. That seemed to have taken all the momentum away from Lakshya as he quickly found himself trailing 4-7. But both players once again kept at each other before the Thai found an extra zing in his smashes at the endgame to prevail 22-20 after Lakshya saved a match point.
PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen in action at the Indonesia Masters. (BWF/BadmintonPhoto) 
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