Indian campaign at Indonesia Masters 2026 came to a disappointing and controversial end on Friday in Jakarta in the quarterfinals. After a rare and heated officiating row, PV Sindhu lost against her Chinese opponent. Lakshya Sen lost in straight games.
Facing top seed Chen Yu Fei, Sindhu battled not just with her precise half-court smashes and deft returns, but also a series of frustrating calls from the chair umpire. The Indian lost 13-21, 17-21.
Sindhu took to social media to express her disappointment. She was dignified yet firm. “Every now and then, the roar finds its way back,” she said. “A tough loss when decisions shape the match. Progress is showing. Time to keep building.”
The second game was marked by the officiating controversy. Drama started when a shot from Chen was called ‘in’ by the chair umpire on the forehand side. Having already run out of reviews on previous close line calls, a helpless Sindhu could only watch in disbelief as the decision stood. After she protested, the chair umpire issued a yellow card for misconduct.
Minutes later, the situation turned worse. Trailing 12-16, Sindhu was getting ready for Chen’s serve when the chair umpire flashed a red card for delaying play. The decision seemed unnecessarily harsh and the official looked intent on imposing himself. Even Chen appeared shocked by the call when she getting into serving position.
The red card resulted in a point fault, which extended Chen’s lead to 17-12 lead. A fuming Sindhu engaged in a discussion with the match referee and the decision was overturned. But the damage had already been done.
Sindhu staged a brief comeback with some deep crosscourt smashes and closed the gap to 17-18. It wasn’t enough to force a decider. Chen’s half smashes and deceptive gameplay coupled with a 311 kmph smash earned her a game point. An error from Sindhu ended her journey in the Super 500 event
On the adjacent court soon afterwards, Sen went down to Thailand’s rising star Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul 18-21, 20-22.
Fresh off an upset win over Malaysia’s Paris Olympic bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia in the previous round, the Thai left-hander proved it was no fluke as he toppled the 2025 Australian Open winner.
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