Basel (Switzerland): India’s PV Sindhu staged a stunning come-from-behind victory over Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying in the quarterfinals and inched closer to an elusive gold medal at the BWF World Championships here, Friday.
Sindhu, who won back-to-back silver medals in the last two editions of the prestigious tournament, edged past the former World No.1 and Asian Games gold medallist Tzu Ying 12-21, 23-21, 21-19 in a pulsating contest that lasted 71 minutes, assuring herself of a fifth medal at the Badminton Worlds.
The 24-year-old Indian PV Sindhu, an Olympic silver medallist, will next take on the winner of the match between China’s Chen Yu Fei and Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt, Saturday/
PV Sindhu showed tremendous grit after being blown away in the opening game, edging past her fancied rival, who enjoys an upper hand (10-4) after 14 career meetings.
Sindhu, who had snapped a six-match losing streak against Tzu Ying with a win at the World Tour Finals in December, didn’t have the desired start, falling back 3-9 early on. A masterful Tzu Ying entered the break at 11-4, with a powerful cross court smash.
Sindhu unleashed a smash and then gathered a point when her rival went wide but an alert Tzu Ying pounced on a weak return from Sindhu and also targeted her backhand to make it 14-7. She maintained the lead and it grew to 18-9 when Sindhu hit long. Tzu Ying soon had nine game points at 20-11. The Indian saved one following an error from Tzu Ying, who took the opening game after her opponent went wide.
In the second game, Sindhu showed better intent to open up a 2-0 lead before being tied 3-3. Tzu Ying’s repertoire of strokes made life difficult for the Indian, who fell behind 5-8.
A gritty Sindhu, however, clawed back with three points – a cross court smash and two wide shots from Tzu Ying — and then made it 11-9 at the break with the help of a precise forehand return.
It was neck and neck affair with leads changing hands frequently. Sindhu led 18-16 and had two game points at 20-18. But then she miscued a return and then went wide and Tzu Ying restored parity at 20-all.
However, at 21-all, a superb service return handed Sindhu the advantage and this time, she sealed it with a cross court return, which Tzu Ying couldn’t connect.
In the decider, Tzu Ying brought to the fore her deception once again and jumped to a 4-1 lead. She then jumped to 8-4, but Sindhu kept fighting on.
Sindhu narrowed the lead to 7-9 but another magic stroke near the net gave Tzu Ying a point. The Chinese Taipei player entered the interval with a two-point advantage after producing another masterful backhand return.
After the breather, Sindhu unleashed a lethal smash but Tzu Ying’s angled returns kept the Indian on the hook. A good-looking return took Sindhu to 12-13 before Tzu Ying again regained the two-point cushion.
Sindhu unleashed a body smash to draw parity at 14-14 and then grabbed a lead after her opponent made a judgement error.
The Indian maintained her one-point advantage at 18-17 when Tzu Ying committed two unforced errors and soon moved to 19-17, but the Taiwanese fought back when Sindhu found the net.
A timely smash saw Sindhu grab one match point and she sealed it when Tzu Ying went wide.
Agencies
