Indian challenge ended at the Japan Super Series following the defeats of shuttlers P V Sindhu and Ajay Jayaram in the women's and men's singles pre-quarterfinals,respectively in Tokyo today. Sindhu,who broke into the top 20 ranking today,fought for 52 minutes before suffering a 21-10 12-21 18-21 loss to fourth seed Yeon Ju Bae at the Tokyo Yoyogi Gymnasium. In men's singles,Jayaram also failed to breach the defence of Wei Feng Chong and lost 16-21 16-21 to the Malaysian in a 35-minute battle. There was not much to differentiate between Sindhu and world no. 11,Bae as the Indian matched her superior rival with her smashes. But the Korean proved to be a bit better at the nets as she had 18 net winners compared to Sindhu's 17. The Indian dominated initially as she opened up a 8-0 lead and even though Bae tried to bridge the gap,Sindhu pocketed the first game without much ado. In the second game too,Sindhu was leading 3-0 initially but Bae reeled off five straight points to move ahead. Sindhu clawed back at 8-8 but the Korean broke off from 10-10 and held her fort to bounce back. In the decider,Bae didn't allow the Indian to come close as she opened a narrow lead and gradually crafted her way ahead. Sindhu did tried to challenge Bae and had brought the margin down to 17-19 but the higher ranked Korean had the last laugh.
