Dubai: Already assured of a semifinal spot, Indian shuttler PV Sindhu continued her rampaging run with a straight-game demolition of World No. 2 Japanese Akane Yamaguchi at the USD one million Dubai Super Series Finals (DSSF) tournament, here Friday.
World No. 3 Sindhu thrashed Yamaguchi 21-9, 21-13 in just 36 minutes to top Group A in women’s singles at the Sheikh Hamdan Indoor Stadium here. This was her third successive win in the competition. She will face China’s Chen Yufei in the semifinals, Saturday. Yufei saw off Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon 21-18, 13-21, 21-18 in a Group B match.
The 22-year-old Indian showed great anticipation and athleticism to completely dominate proceedings even as Yamaguchi got buried under a heap of unforced errors in the match.
Before the match, Sindhu had a 4-2 head-to-head record against Yamaguchi, which included a win at the Hong Kong Super Series last month.
Sindhu started in rampaging fashion, jumping to a 5-0 lead and then taking it to 11-1 at the break. After the break she continued to dominate and made it 15-4 with a cross-court smash.
At 18-6, Sindhu committed a fault at the net but she followed that with a smash and gained 13 game points when her opponent went wide again. Yamaguchi saved a couple of game points before Sindhu wrapped up the opening game with a delightful cross-court drop.
The second game started with both pairs fighting for every point. At 6-7, the Yufei was engaged in a 32-stroke energy-sapping rally with the Indian. However, she smashed wide and gave Sindhu a two-point lead at 6-8.
Even though Yufei reduced the gap down to 8-9, it was clear that the long rally had taken a toll on her body. The ordeal continued for Yamaguchi as she struggled to control the shuttle, allowing Sindhu to move to a 13-8 lead. She controlled the pace of the shuttle and it was 18-12 in no time.
A deceptive return and another miscued stroke by Yamaguchi handed Sindhu seven match points and she sealed it with a quick dribble at the net.
Meanwhile Srikanth’s poor form in the tournament continued as he lost his third match in succession going down to Chinese Shi Yuqi 17-21, 21-19, 14-21 in a late night encounter.
Press Trust of India
