New Delhi, March 31 – Rio Olympics silver medalist PV Sindhu showed nerves of steel to beat her compatriot Saina Nehwal 21-16, 22-20 to cruise into the semifinals of the BWF Metlife Yonex-Sunrise India Open World Superseries played here at the Siri Fort Sports Complex today.
The match which was perhaps the biggest in the tournament’s history saw the World No.5 Sindhu start a slight favourite considering her recent run of form and she lived up to the reputation to qualify for the last four of the India Open for the first time in her career.
Sindhu started off with a bang taking the opening game without lose much sweat underlining her early dominance in the match. But the World No. 8 Saina known for her resilience launched a scathing comeback to dominate the second game initially and was leading 19-16 and it looked like the match would go into the decider.
However, the third seeded Hyderabadi showed great tenacity and launched a stunning comeback to make the score 19-19. Saina took the lead again and just a point away from clinching the second game, she could not hold on to her momentum as Sindhu took three straight points to wrap the blockbuster match in 47 minutes.
“I felt no pressure even when she was ahead in the second game. I had confidence in myself and when it was 20-20 in the second it was anybody’s game. But I belief in myself and was confident that I could turn it around,” Sindhu said after the match.
Sindhu will now be up against World No. 4 Sung Ji Hyun of Korea which promises to be yet another exciting match. Sung Ji had earlier beat defending champion Ratchanok Intanon 21-16, 22-10 in 49 minutes to avenge for her loss at the All England.
In the men’s section, India’s hope were shattered after Sameer Verma went down to unseeded Ander Antonsen 22-24, 21-19 of Denmark to crash out of the tournament.
In another match, top seeded Carolina Marin of Spain beat Minatsi Mitani of Japan 21-10, 20-22, 21-14 in 57 minutes to stay on course to qualify for the finals her first India Open title. She will now be up against Akane Yamaguchi of Japan who beat her compatriot Nozomi Okuhara 21-12, 9-21, 21-18.
