Two-time Olympic medallist P. V. Sindhu lost to Wang Zhi Yi of China 21-16, 5-21, 16-21 in the Malaysia Masters final on Sunday.
It was Sindhu’s first final in almost two years and her Chinese World No 7 did not make it easy.
In a match that lasted for an hour and 19 minutes, Wang Zhi Yi made a spectacular comeback from trailing 11-3 in the final game to win the match with a 16-21 scoreline.
After beating World No. 20 Busunan Ongbamrungphan in the semifinal, Sindhu was the only Indian in the tournament.
Ranked 15th in the latest badminton world rankings, she had beaten Ongbamrungphan 13-21, 21-16, 21-12 in one hour and 28 minutes to reach her first final on the BWF World Tour since the Spain Masters in April last year, where she lost to Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung. Her last title came at the 2022 Singapore Open.