PV Sindhu was knocked out of the All England Open 2020 after losing in three games to Nozomi Okuhara. Sindhu, who is still chasing her first trophy since the record-breaking World Championship win, lost 21-12, 15-21, 13-21 to crush out of the competition. Her ouster from the Badminton tournament also ended India's campaign in England. Sindhu started well against the Japanese, whom she had beaten nine times in 16 meetings prior to this clash, and also won the first set quite comfortably. But Okuhara fought back to level the game with a win in the second set before sealing it in the deciding set. Coronavirus Outbreak: Told PV Sindhu to Continue Playing in All England Open 2020 but Adhere to Guidelines, Says Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju.

Sindhu had earlier beaten Ji Hyun Sung in the second round of the All England Open 2020 in straight games to reach the quarter-finals of the competition. The defending World champion beat Korea's Hyun Sung 21-19, 21-15 to avenge her first-round defeat in last year's All England Open against the same opposition. She had beaten Beiwin Zhang 21-14, 21-17 in the opening round of the competition make a perfect start to her campaign before a quarter-final exit.

Sindhu's defeat also ended India's hopes in the tournament with all others knocked out. Young Lakshya Sen, who was the only other shuttler to progress through the second round apart from Sindhu, lost to Viktor Axelsen n the second round. Sen, 18, put up a good fight against the former World champion but lost 21-17, 21-18 to crush out of the All England Open. He had eaten World No 18 Lee Cheuk Yiu 17-21, 21-18, 21-17 to advance into the second round.

Among the other Indian shuttlers participating in the tournament, Kidambi Srikanth, B Sai Praneeth and Parupali Kashyap were knocked out of the very first round, while Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy withdrew. Saina Nehwal also suffered a 21-11, 21-8 opening-round loss to Akane Yamaguchi of Japan and is facing fight against time to qualify for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 13, 2020 09:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).