ODENSE (Denmark) --- Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu lost to Sayaka Sato of Japan in the women's singles, bringing the Indian campaign to an end at the Denmark Open here on Thursday.
Sindhu went down 13-21 23-21 18-21 to world No. 12 Sato in a second-round match that lasted an hour and five minutes.
In the first game, Sindhu fought back from 1-3 to lead 12-8 at one stage but Sato made a comeback, reeling off sixth points and then grabbing seven straight points. In the second game, Sindhu was 10-15 down but turned the tables after being tied 21-21 at one stage. The decider was another tough battle as both players went neck and neck till 18-18 when the Japanese surged ahead.
It was Sindhu's first event after the Olympics. She will now play at the French Open next week.
In the second round of the men's singles competition, India's Ajay Jayaram and HS Prannoy also suffered losses.
Jayaram lost 21-23 15-21 to Shi Yuqi of China, while Prannoy lost 10-21 20-22 to top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.