Muristek
Thailand Open: PV Sindhu gets past world No. 1 Akane, faces familiar foe Yufei in semis
Bangkok, May 20
Two-time Olympics medallist PV Sindhu eked out a three-game win over world No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan to enter the semifinals of the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament here today.
The sixth-seeded Indian prevailed 21-15 20-22 21-13 over her second-seeded Japanese rival in 51 minutes, setting up a semifinals clash with Olympics champion Chen Yufei of China.
Sindhu came into the match with a 13-9 head-to-head record against Yamaguchi and dished out another fine performance to notch up her 14th victory over the reigning world champion.
The last time Sindhu played Yamaguchi, the match was marred by controversy as Sindhu was penalised a point by the umpire on the charge of taking too long to serve during the Badminton Asia Championships semifinals in April-end.
Today, nothing separated the two in the initial phase as Sindhu depended on crosscourt slices and drops to trouble Yamaguchi, who blew a three-point lead to allow the Indian move to a 11-9 lead at the first break. Yamaguchi reeled off five points from there, only for Sindhu return the favour with seven straight points to move to a 19-14 lead.
Sindhu sent the shuttle long before moving to 20-15 for five game points, sealing it when an off-balance Yamaguchi sent the shuttle to the net. Yamaguchi looked a bit passive as her movements were not smooth and the game erratic, allowing Sindhu to jump to an 11-5 advantage at the interval, with the Indian winning 10 of the previous 11 points without much ado. After the break, Sindhu was called for a service fault and Yamaguchi fought her way to 11-13 before going long.