Returning from injury, PV Sindhu registers confident win to enter Malaysia Open pre-quarters
Kuala Lumpur
Indian badminton star PV Sindhu made a confident return to competitive action, defeating Chinese-Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun in the women’s singles opening round of the Malaysia Open Super 1000 tournament here on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old former world champion, who had taken an extended break from the BWF World Tour since October last year to recover from a foot injury, prevailed 21-14, 22-20 in a match that lasted just over 51 minutes. Ranked 18th in the world, Sindhu showed no visible signs of discomfort as she outplayed the lower-ranked Sung to move into the pre-quarterfinals.
Sindhu started on an authoritative note, racing to a 6-2 lead in the opening game and maintaining complete control to pocket it comfortably. Her powerful smashes and sharp court coverage kept Sung under pressure, allowing the Indian to close out the first game 21-14.
The second game, however, proved to be a far sterner test. Sung surged ahead to lead 11-4 at the interval and later extended her advantage, forcing Sindhu to dig deep. The Indian gradually found her rhythm, clawing back to level the score at 13-all. Sung again moved ahead to lead 17-14, but Sindhu’s experience and composure came to the fore as she drew level once more. At 20-all, Sindhu held her nerve to win the final two points and seal the contest.
The victory improved Sindhu’s head-to-head record against Sung to 2-0 and set up a challenging round-of-16 clash against Japan’s world No.9 Tomoka Miyazaki. Miyazaki progressed after her South Korean opponent Sim Yu Jin retired hurt during their match.
Earlier in the day, India suffered a setback in mixed doubles as Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto exited the tournament, losing a closely fought three-game match to American pair Presley Smith and Jennie Gai.
Later on Wednesday, India’s top men’s doubles duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy are scheduled to begin their campaign against Chinese-Taipei’s Yang Po-Hsuan and Lee Jhe-Hue.
