Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu overcame a strong challenge from her Chinese counterpart, Han Yue, in a battle that went on for more than an hour as she sealed her semifinal berth in the Singapore Open Super 500 Tournament in Singapore on Friday, July 15.
The current World No. 7 found the going tough early in the first game as Han was clinical with her placement and drew first blood, but the Indian bounced back in a strong manner to win the second and set seal the game 17-21, 21-11, 21-19 in a contest lasting 62 minutes. Sindhu now leads 3-0 against the Chinese head-to-head.
This was Sindhu's first semifinal entry since the Thailand Open in May and the Olympic hero will hope to go all the way in her last event before the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Sindhu will next face unseeded Saena Kawakami, the Japanese world No. 38 who caused an upset by eliminating sixth-seeded Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 21-17, 21-19.
But the rest of the Indian contingent at the Singapore Open suffered losses, leaving Sindhu as the only medal candidate in the Super 500 tournament.
Saina Nehwal was shown the exit door by her Japanese opponent Aya Ohori as the Indian veteran lost the match 13-21, 21-15, 20-22.
Nehwal conceded the first game 13-21 as Ohori capitalised on her Indian counterpart’s reduced mobility due to injuries. But, the second game was a different story as Nehwal established a five-point lead at the beginning and managed to put pressure on her opponent by holding on to the lead before managing to close out the game 21-15 to take it to the third game decider.
But, a desperate Ohori tried everything in her control to minimise the arrears with some smart strokeplay. A 21-shot rally point ensured that Ohori wouldn’t stray too far behind Nehwal. Ohori eventually triumphed to hand Nehwal a defeat and seal her own place in the next round.
Meanwhile, HS Prannoy almost completed a very good comeback against Kodai Naraoka. After winning the first set 21-12, Prannoy nearly produced a stunning comeback but the damage was done early on as the duo provided a great battle. The match ended 21-12, 14-21, 18-21.
And in the Men's singles, the duo of Dhruv-Arjun suffered a 21-10, 18-21, 17-21 defeat against Hendra Setiawan and Md. Ahsan of Indonesia.
