Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu of India lost to Rio 2016 champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the semi-finals of the Denmark Open 2023 women’s singles badminton event at the Jyske Bank Arena in Odense on Saturday.

PV Sindhu, six places below world No. 6 Carolina Marin in the badminton rankings, lost the contest 21-18, 19-21, 21-7 in 71 minutes to crash out of the BWF Super 750 tournament.

This was the 11th loss for PV Sindhu vs Carolina Marin in the 16th head-to-head meeting. The two badminton players also locked horns in the Rio 2016 Olympics final which was won by Carolina Marin. Sindhu, who last beat Marin at the Malaysia Open in 2018, extended her losing streak against the Spaniard to five matches.

The first game saw PV Sindhu and Carolina Marin use their reach to good effect and trade leads before the break. Sindhu went into the mid-game interval with a slender one-point lead and held onto it for the most part. 

However, Carolina Marin used her smashes to trouble Sindhu in the business end and took the first game by winning the final four points. 

PV Sindhu began the second game with renewed intensity and raced to an 11-3 lead in quick time. Carolina Marin engaged in longer rallies and fought back with seven straight points before PV Sindhu started to turn the rallies around with her defensive skills to make it 14-10.

Carolina Marin kept finding timely responses with a good mix of net play and smashes and saved three game points but Sindhu’s early lead proved to be decisive at the end of the second game.

Sindhu, who has struggled with injuries since winning the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games last year, ran out of steam in the decider to lose the match in three games.

This was PV Sindhu’s fifth appearance in the semi-finals this season. A former world champion and two-time Olympic medallist, PV Sindhu is searching for her first BWF title this year. 

Sindhu had defeated Thailand’s Supanida Katethong, Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour and Indonesia’s Gregoria Tunjung in the previous rounds. 

PV Sindhu was the only Indian left at the Denmark Open. The Indian badminton players will be next seen in action at the French Open 2023 Super 750 tournament in Paris.

Results at the Denmark Open as well as the Paris Open will count towards players’ qualifying rankings for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The qualification window for badminton started on May 1 this year.