Dubai: Shuttler PV Sindhu is just a step away from clinching her maiden title at the Dubai Super Series Finals badminton tournament after defeating Chen Yufei of China in straight games in the women’s singles semifinals here Saturday.
The 22-year-old Indian dished out a controlled game of badminton to outclass the Chinese 21-15, 21-18 in a match that lasted a little less than an hour.
World No. 3 Sindhu thus emulated Saina Nehwal, who had reached the final in 2011 and mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju, who had ended runners-up in 2009.
“Overall, it was a very good quality match. Though I won in straight games, there were long rallies. It never got over till the last point. I was just thinking about the next point as each is important. Chen played exceptionally well. Her defence is solid,” Sindhu said after the match.
In the summit clash Sunday, Sindhu will face World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, who saw off Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon 17-21, 21-12, 21-19 in the other semifinal played on the day. Sindhu had thrashed Yamaguchi in straight games in her last Group A match Friday.
“I really want to be the first Indian woman to win this tournament. Yamaguchi will be a tough opponent. I will have to be prepared. It will be a long, match, so not thinking anything now. There will not be easy points,” Sindhu said.
In the first game, Sindhu rode on the unforced errors of Chen, ranked eighth in the world, to quickly open up a 5-0 lead early on. But the Chinese came back strongly to restore parity at five-all.
Chen then grabbed an 8-6 lead when the Indian again committed an error. However, the Indian reeled off four points in a row with some down the line smashes to lead 10-6. Thereafter she maintained her lead to bag the first game.
In the second game, Sindhu using her height caught the shuttle early and delivered some telling smashes to build a 7-3 lead. She maintained the four-point advantage to go into the break with the score 11-7 in her favour.
After the interval, Sindhu managed to extend the lead to 15-11 but she lost two video referrals allowing Chen to restore parity at 15-all.
Even though Chen led 16-15, Sindhu again hit some glorious shots to lead 19-16. Even though Chen reduced the gap to 18-19, she committed a couple of unforced errors to hand Sindhu the game and the match.
Agencies
