Press Trust of India
Penang, Jan 23: PV Sindhu scored an upset victory over top seed Ji Hyun Sung of Korea in a hard-fought three-game semifinal match to storm into the women’s singles final of the USD 120,000 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament here Saturday. However, it was the end of the road for World No. 9 Kidambi Srikanth who suffered a shock defeat at the hands of World No. 51 Iskandar Zulkarnain.
Sindhu beat her World No. 8 Korean opponent 21-19, 12-21, 21-10 in a contest that lasted 69 minutes. The World No. 12 Indian thus put herself on course for a fifth Grand Prix Gold event title. She had won here in 2013 before bagging three more Grand Prix Golds at the Macau Open (2013, 2014 and 2015).
“It definitely feels great to be in the final, but my job is not yet over,” said a surprisingly sombre Sindhu after the end of the tie. “There is one more match to go. It is good to be in the final, but it will be equally heartbreaking to lose it.”
The two rivals had a 2-2 head-to-head record before Saturday’s meeting and they opened the first set neck-and-neck till they tied at 11-all.
From there, Sindhu nosed ahead by winning seven straight points. The Korean fought back but Sindhu did not let the advantage slip and took the first set 21-19.
The second game followed a similar pattern to that of the first. It was a close contest till 10-all. However, the Indian lost her concentration and the Korean took advantage of it to reel off seven points in a row. Sindhu made it 12-17, but that was as far she got as the Korean once again pressed on the pedal to close out the game.
But Sindhu saved her best for the last as she played brilliantly in the deciding set. She led all through the decider after three-all. From there on, Sindhu won seven straight points to leave Sung far behind and maintained the lead to win the decider 21-10 and wrap up the match.
Srikanth, however, was not in his elements and looked tired and jaded. The unseeded Zulkarnain outsmarted the second seed 27-25, 21-9 in the last four clash lasting 48 minutes.
