PV Sindhu in her match against Canada's Wen Yu Zhang in the women's singles round of 32 the BWF World Championships, at IGI Stadium, in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)PV Sindhu hung her head in despair as Yvonne Li’s lift landed inside the back line, giving the German shuttler her first win over the two-time Olympic medallist at the Denmark Open Super 750 on Tuesday.Sindhu lost to lower-ranked Yvonne Li of Germany 21-13, 23-25, 19-21 in her women’s singles first-round match, which lasted one hour and five minutes at the SJF Bank Arena. In the deciding game, Sindhu had a five-point lead twice, but she failed to close out the match on both occasions and eventually succumbed to defeat.Coming on the back of a quarterfinal finish at the Arctic Open earlier this month, Sindhu was slated to play An Se-young. But following a re-draw, Li became her opponent. The first game was a signature Sindhu game, where she mixed her drops with down-the-line smashes and forced Li into errors at the net.After taking a 3-0 lead in the opening exchanges, Sindhu kept the advantage at the mid-game break, leading 11-7. She won the last point with a drop and then took the game comfortably as Li erred on the final two points, hitting the shuttle wide on both occasions.The second game was a contrast to the first, with Li forcing Sindhu to play more at the net, resulting in more errors. The game went neck and neck as both shuttlers traded points to keep the scores level at 15-15.Sindhu saved two game points at 18-20, with one powerful smash and one error from Li. The game then stretched from 20-20 to 23-23 as Li took the lead but could not convert her advantage. Two errors from Sindhu on either side of the court allowed Li to force a decider, winning the second game 25-23.Leading 12-7 in the final game, Sindhu lost five consecutive points through unforced errors, hitting the net twice and sending the shuttle sideways three times while attempting to deceive Li with her drop. However, she recovered from 15-15 and took four points to make it 19-15, moving to within two points of victory.Story continues below this adBut Li employed a smart strategy at this juncture, forcing Sindhu to lift more and come close to the net by blocking her smashes. The ploy worked for the German, who won six points in a row to take the third game 21-19 and end the Indian’s campaign in the first round.Kidambi Srikanth, who won this tournament in 2017, showed glimpses of his brilliance against France’s Arnaud Merkle to win in straight games, 22-20, 21-19. Similarly, youngster Tanvi Sharma defeated Japan’s Natsuki Nidaira in a three-game thriller. Tanvi won 21-17, 16-21, 21-19 and will face Li in the next round.Meanwhile, top Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen lost to 36-year-old Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in three games, 18-21, 21-13, 15-21.