Sindhu vs Marin in World C’ships final

Nanjing, August 4 

PV Sindhu continued her incredible run in the World Championships, earning a second successive final spot after seeing off Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi at the semifinals.

Sindhu notched up a superb 21-16 24-22 win over world No. 2 Yamaguchi in a 55-minute match.  “I hope this time it would be a better result than the last time. I have to prepare well for tomorrow, so it’s not over yet,” Sindhu said.

Sindhu entered the match with a 6-4 head-to-head record against Yamaguchi. The duo faced off twice this year with each registering a win. 

Marin challenge

The 23-year-old from Hyderabad will face Carolina Marin tomorrow. Marin beat Chinese He Bingjiao 13-21 21-16 21-13 to make her third World Championships final. Overall, Marin has a 6-5 advantage over Sindhu, who had beaten the Spaniard in their last encounter at the Malaysia Open in June.

Sindhu took time to get into the groove, resulting in Yamaguchi racing away to a 5-0 lead. The Indian earned the first point with a precise smash but a couple of wide strokes on both sides of the court helped the Japanese move to 6-3. The Japanese managed to hold a slender 11-10 lead at the break after Sindhu failed to cross the net. At 10-12, Sindhu rode on eight straight points to reach 18-12. However, she sent the shuttle out twice and once long to allow Yamaguchi to make a recovery. However, the Indian eventually grabbed four game points and won the game immediately when Yamaguchi faltered at the forecourt.

In the second game, Sindhu lagged 2-6 before the Indian managed to reduce the gap to 7-8. The Japanese extended the lead to 14-9 with two precise smashes. But she went long thrice and Sindhu too found the net twice. It was 16-12 advantage for Yamaguchi at that point. 

Recovery

Sindhu then scripted an incredible recovery from 12-19, reeling off eight straight points to grab one match point. Yamaguchi saved one before holding a game point herself. However, the Japanese goofed up with her serve to squander the advantage. Yamaguchi went long to hand over Sindhu a second match point but what ensued next was the longest rally of the contest, comprising 41 shots, which ended with Sindhu hitting wide.  

Yamaguchi hit wide again to gift Sindhu her third match point and this time she converted it after the Japanese went wide again. — PTI