Indian badminton players PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth are virtually out of the knockout stage after losing in their respective second-round tie at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals in Bangkok on Thursday, reported PTI.

Thai shuttler Ratchanok Intanon defeated Sindhu a week ago, and it was the same for the world champion this time too as she saw 18-21 13-21 loss.

Meanwhile, Srikanth, who emerged victorious against Wang Tzu Wei ahead of the match, suffered 19-21 21-9 21-19 loss.

Also read: BWF World Tour Finals: PV Sindhu downed by Tai Tzu-ying in Group B opener

Srikanth initially managed to grab a slender 11-10 lead over the Taiwanese world number 12 but he was unable to keep the pace. Wang narrowed it down to 18-19 when Srikanth committed a few errors.

The decider game started with Srikanth leading 4-1 but Wang produced a rearguard action to make it 8-4 with seven consecutive points.

Srikanth bounced back to make it 10-10 but Wang again gained a lead at 17-13.

Srikanth again missed the line as Wang grabbed four match points. The Indian saved three but went down in the end.

Also read: Saina Nehwal knocked out of Thailand Open, India’s hope of women’s singles medal crashes

In Sindhu’s match, she faced Ratchanok determined to make up for her loss in their last match. The reigning world champion made a positive start, jumping to a 5-2 lead and then enjoyed an 11-6 lead at the break. However, Ratchanok caught up with four straight points at 14-14.

Sindhu again moved ahead to 18-17 but four quick points helped Ratchanok gaining the lead.

The Thai star continued her momentum from the first game to open up an 11-8 lead at the break. Sindhu narrowed it to 11-12 before Ratchanok reeled off six points on the trot to take the match away from the Indian.

Notably, the demoralising defeat has almost sealed the destiny of the Indian duo in the tournament.