Press Trust of India
Macau, Nov 29: Two-time defending champion PV Sindhu completed a hat-trick of women’s singles title at the USD 1,20,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, after defeating Japan’s Minatsu Mitani 21-9, 21-23, 21-14 in the women’s singles final which lasted for 66 minutes.
The World No. 12 Indian dished out some superb strokes and acute-angled returns to bamboozle the Japanese, besides making some sound judgements at the baseline to get across Mitani, who struggled to keep the shuttle inside the court at times.
Sindhu started off well reaching to an 11-5 lead at the first interval. The Japanese reduced the lead to 7-11, but then committed some errors which helped the Indian regain momentum at 17-7 and she closed out the first set in a jiffy.
In the second game it was a close affair with the lead frequently changing hands. Sindhu led initially 4-2, but then Mitani made it 5-4 in her favour. She increased the one-point lead to 11-9 at the break.
After the interval, Mitani started off with a service fault but the Japanese came up with accurate placements which caught Sindhu off guard. But the Indian kept breathing down her neck and clawed back at 16-16.
The duo moved neck-and-neck till 19-all when Sindhu made an important line judgement to move to match point. But she sent the shuttle long in the next point. A delicate net point once again gave Sindhu a match point at 21-20 but Mitani saved it again with a powerful smash. Sindhu next hit long to give the game point to Mitani, who grabbed the opportunity after the Indian netted following a long engrossing rally.
In the third, from the beginning, Sindhu rested the initiative. A delicate net drop saw her leading 5-3 and then some fine cross-court winners saw her built the lead to 9-4. Even though, Mitani fought back, Sindhu had a healthy 11-7 lead at the break.
After the interval, Sindhu grabbed six of the next eight points to stamp her authority in the game. At 17-9, it looked all over bar the shouting for the Japanese. However, not giving up till the last, Mitani reeled off four points in a row and to make the scoreline 13-17.
It was at this moment, a crucial line call by Sindhu broke the Japanese’s momentum. The Indian grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Mitani aided Sindhu’s cause by mistakenly letting go of the shuttle to give the Indian a 20-11 lead. Mitani saved one match point, but in the next rally she sent the ball long on Sindhu’s backhand side and the Indian was home and dry.
