Fuzhou (China): Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu advanced to the semifinals of the China Open badminton tournament after defeating local favourite He Bingjiao in straight games at the USD 700,000 Super Series Premier event, here Friday.
Seventh seed Sindhu notched up a 22-20, 21-10 win over Bingjiao, who has won four titles – Bitburger Open, French Open, Japan Open and Swiss Open – this season in women’s singles. It was sweet revenge for the Hyderabadi player as the Chinese had defeated her in the second round of the French Open last month.
The 21-year-old will now face the winner of the match between Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi and sixth seed Sung Ji Hyun of China.
In men’s singles, Ajay Jayaram could not get across the reigning Olympic champion, Chen Long of China, suffering a 15-21, 14-21 defeat in a 40-minute clash. But then he fought early on in both the games, before Long’s superior class prevailed.
Sindhu lagged behind from the start as Bingjiao took a 5-1 lead early on and despite the Indian breathing down her neck at 7-6, 12-11, 14-12, the Chinese managed to wrest control leading 17-14.
But then Sindhu changed tempo and she reeled off three points in a row to tie the score at 17-all. Both players then fought very hard and the score reached 20-20 with neither ready to give up. However, then Sindhu played a beautiful cross-court flick to move ahead 21-20 and took the game on the next point when the Chinese shuttler sent a forehand wide.
The left-handed Chinese opened a 2-0 lead in the second game but Sindhu levelled, riding on the errors of Bingjiao.
The Indian mixed her strokes well, using tosses and lifts to push her rival at the corners and came up with some sharp smashes and half-smashes to lead 7-3.
Sindhu was lucky to get a point at 10-4 when the chair umpire overruled a challenge by the Chinese despite the screen showing the shuttle kissing the line and the Indian went into the break leading 11-4.
A tired looking Bingjiao faltered with her length and accuracy of strokes to help Sindhu continue her march ahead to 14-5. Bingjiao grabbed three points before Sindhu broke the rhythm when the Chinese’s backhand slice went to net. Sindhu then built up her lead to 17-9 and finally sealed the the second game in 17 minutes after Bingjiao once again hit long.
Press Trust of India
