Kowloon: Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu produced a comfortable straight-game win over 2013 World Champion Ratchanok Intanon at the USD 400,000 Hong Kong Super Series to seal a second successive final spot here Saturday.
Last year’s finalist, Sindhu moved well and seemed always ready for the shuttle. She dominated the front court, defended well and maintained her attack to outclass the World No.6 Thai 21-17, 21-17 in a 43-minute women’s singles match.
It was their sixth meeting and Sindhu was lagging 1-4 in the head-to-head count. The only time the Indian had beaten Intanon was at the 2015 Korea Open when the match went to the decider.
Sindhu, a silver medallist at World Championship, will next face top seed and World No.1 Tai Tzu Ying, hoping to emulate Saina Nehwal and Prakash Padukone, who had clinched this title in 2010 and 1982.
Locking horns with Intanon after 18 months, Sindhu showed her prowess as she countered the deceptive strokes of her rival with her better defence, which included superb backhand returns and attacking game plan.
In the opening game, Sindhu jumped to a 6-2 lead early on and continued her march ahead, despite some good-looking strokes from the Thai player.
“It was a pretty tough match and I am happy that in the end I won it and entered the final,” stated an elated Sindhu after the match.
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