Indian badminton sensation PV Sindhu had a dream debut at the Dubai World Superseries Finals 2016 as she won her first match at this prestigious season-ender on Wednesday. It, however, did not turn out to be easy for the Rio Olympic silver medallist, who came back from a first-game whitewash to claim a 12-21, 21-8, 21-15 victory over the second seed and World No. 8 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan. The match lasted 63 minutes.
The 10th ranked Sindhu had a 2-1 lead over the Japanese prior to this match and had got the better of her in their last two meetings. Despite that, this was expected to be a tough encounter as the 19-year-old Yamaguchi too had been in sizzling form and had won two Superseries titles this year.
First game whitewash by Yamaguchi
The teenage prodigy began with that confidence and looked thoroughly in control in the opening game. Her anticipation and deception troubled the Indian, and before long, Sindhu found herself trailing by a huge margin.
The Indian’s mounting error count too did not help her cause either. She kept on repeatedly missing the corners as the Japanese soared higher and higher. From 11-5 at the mid-game interval, Yamaguchi jumped out to 16-11 before wrapping up the one-sided game at 21-12.
Superb turnaround by Sindhu
The setback did not demoralise Sindhu at all; rather it doubly fired her up. She started showing the traits that had won her the China Open and took her to the Hong Kong Open final recently.
She opened up a 5-1 lead in the second game and had a commanding body language throughout the game. Lifting the shots perfectly and making the diminutive Yamaguchi move all over the court paid rich dividends. With her attacking game on-point, Sindhu jumped to 11-7 at the interval and extended the lead further.
The inexorable Indian went on a run of 13 consecutive points and grabbed the second game soon after, 21-8.
With the momentum completely on her side, the Indian went up 11-7 at the break in the decider amidst deafening roars of support from the crowd. Yamaguchi made a brief comeback for 10-12, but Sindhu soon restored order to seize the win.
PV Sindhu is now in 2nd position in the Group B Standings, trailing only China’s Sun Yu, who had upset the Olympic champion Carolina Marin in an earlier match. The two will be crossing swords tomorrow.
