Indian star shuttler PV Sindhu showed glimpses of her old self and dished out a compact display to storm into the semi-finals of the Denmark Open Super 750 tournament with a comfortable victory over world number 19 Supanida Katethong in Odense, Denmark on Friday. The two-time Olympic medalist, who has been winless this season, showed her impeccable retrieving skills and exemplary net play to beat Katethong 21-19 21-12 in 47 minutes and reach a second semi-final within two weeks.
Last week she reached the semi-finals of the Arctic Open Super 500 in Finland.
Sindhu will next face Spain’s three-time world champion Carolina Marin or Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.
It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for Sindhu in this tournament as she needed three matches to get rid of her opponents – world number 28 Kristy Gilmour and world number 7 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the first two rounds.
In this match, the Indian enjoyed a 3-2 record against the Thai, but the double losses at the 2022 and 2023 editions of India Open would still hurt Sindhu as it came in front of her home crowd.
But on Friday, the 28-year-old went some way to erasing those memories as she matched her technically sound opponent in every department and managed to limit her mistakes to come out ace.
Katethong tried to move Sindhu around the court with her pushes back and then pull her towards the net. But Sindhu was ready and persevered through the fast rallies. She played a number of forehands on the court with great success.
The Indian did miss a few points due to a misjudgment on the end line, but that didn’t matter as she took an 11-8 lead with a cross-court smash.
After the change of goal, the Thai made a few mistakes on the forecourt, allowing Sindhu to dominate proceedings. The Indian was leading 19-12 in no time.
The Thais played some precise shots on the lines to threaten Sindhu’s supremacy. The Indian was also guilty of making unforced errors as Katethong recovered to 17-19.
However, the Indian crushed the revival with an on-the-line return, taking three game points and sealing the opening match after Katethong floated a cross-court wide.
In the second game, Katethong struggled with her height and sprayed the shuttle long and wide as Sindhu led 5-1. Two accurate returns and a lucky net goal helped Katethong level at 5-5.
However, Sindhu managed to take a 9-6 lead. The Thais seemed to increase the pace and made it 8-9 after a straight blow. Katethong put up the points well but failed in execution as Sindhu again led 11-9.
The Hyderabadi looked more aggressive as she had all the answers to the questions her opponent asked her. She mixed her half smashes, drives and drops to keep racking up points while Katethong found herself in a pool of errors, especially in her hunt to go for the lines.
The result was that the Indian led 16-10. With the Thais going long again, Sindhu moved to 18-11. She produced a cross court forehand to collect another point and quickly took eight match points.
Sindhu finished it off comfortably with another trademark crosscourt smash.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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