Hong Kong Open final: Sindhu, Sameer Verma go down fighting

Kowloon: Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu on Sunday suffered a heartbreak defeat at the hands of Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying in the Hong Kong Open final.

The fourth seeded Taipei's player defeated Sindhu 21-15, 21-17 in the summit clash that lasted for 41 minutes at the Hong Kong Coliseum.

The Rio Olympic silver medallist, who had won the China Open last week, failed to put up a similar performance as Ying overpowered her totally.

The ace Indian shuttler had a good start as she raced away to a 6-3 lead in the first game but she wasted the opportunity and lost the next eight points, ultimately losing the first game 15-21.

Ying, who had defeated World No.1 Carolina Marin and Rio Olympic gold medallist in the last-four contest, continued her magnificent form and was not withered down when her Indian opponent raced away to a 4-1 lead in the second game.

It was neck and neck in the second game but then Ying came to her own and forced Sindhu to make many forced errors and eventually won the game 21-17 and with that the women's singles title.

World No. 43 Sameer Verma’s dream to win his first Superseries title came crashing down, as he lost to the local player NG Ka Long Angus 14-21, 21-10, 11-21 in the final.

The 22-year-old shuttler had earlier defeated third seeded Jan O’Jorgensen 21-19, 24-22 in a contest which lasted around 45 minutes to enter his first Super Series final.