File image of PV Sindhu© AFP
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu reached her first final of the year as she eked out a straight-game victory over Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min at Madrid Spain Masters Super 300 tournament in Madrid on Saturday. The second seed Sindhu toiled hard for 48 minutes to pull off a 24-22. 22-20 win over the lowly-ranked Singaporean shuttler in an intensely fought women’s singles semifinals. Sindhu came to the match with a 4-0 head-to head record against Min.
Trailing 15-20, Sindhu, showed immense fighting spirit as she saved seven game points to take the first game 24-22.
She used the body smash to great effect and converted the only game point opportunity she had.
In the second game, Sindhu trailed 1-4, before opening a five point lead at 11-6.
World no 33 Min however, played a gorgeous drop shot to level the scores at 17-17. Sindhu then had two match points but Min manage to save both of them before driving one wide, giving the Indian her third match point.
This time Sindhu made no errors as Min found the net.
It is Sindhu’s first final since winning the gold and the Commonwealth Games last year.
She will face the winner of the second semifinal clash between local favourite and top seed Carolina Marin and Indonesia’s Gregoria Tunjung.
The win will come as a huge morale boost for Sindhu who has been struggling for form this season since returning to action following a long injury lay off. Sindhu has dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since November 2016.
She made a first round exit from the prestigious All England Championship and failed to defend her Swiss Open Super 300 badminton title earlier this month.
She had made first-round exits at the Indian Open and Malaysia Open in January.
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