PV Sindhu out in pre-quarters of Japan Masters, India's campaign ends

India's campaign ended prematurely as dual Olympic medalist PV Sindhu lost the pre-quarterfinals of the Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500 badminton tournament on Thursday. World no. 20 Sindhu was the lone Indian in the competition after the women's doubles pair of Lakshya Sen and Trisa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were eliminated. Sindhu squandered a game lead against world 23rd ranked Michelle Li of Canada and lost 21-17, 16-21, 17-21 in the women's singles match that lasted one hour and 15 minutes. There was a tight contest between the two shuttlers in the first game before Sindhu took a narrow lead of 11-8 and from there kept her nose in front to take the early lead.

After falling behind, Li attacked in the second game and took an 8-3 lead, but Sindhu fought back, with the score at 16-16 at one point.

But Lee then improved his game and scored five consecutive points to level the match.

In the decider, there was a tough fight between the two shuttlers till 17 points, but Lee gained momentum and won the match by scoring four consecutive points. Sindhu's unforced errors also helped the Canadian player.

Lee will face South Korea's Yoo Jin Sim in the quarterfinals.