Canada Open: PV Sindhu sets up semis date with Akane Yamaguchi

Calgary, July 8

Advertisement

Commonwealth Games champions PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen notched up contrasting wins to advance to the semifinals of the Canada Open Super 500 late on Friday night here.

Sindhu stamped her authority over Gao Fang Jie to register her first victory in their four meetings with a dominating 21-13 21-7 victory in the women’s singles quarterfinals. Later, Sen staved off a spirited fight from German qualifier Julien Carraggi 21-8 17-21 21-10 in a men’s singles quarterfinal.

Sindhu will now face world No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, while Sen is pitted against the fourth-seeded Japanese Kenta Nishimoto.

The 28-year-old Sindhu has a favourable 14-10 head-to-head record against the top-seeded Yamaguchi, who had beaten the Indian in their last meeting at the Singapore Open this year.

Sen, on the other hand, has a 1-1 record against Nishimoto, having last played him at the 2022 Japan Open.

Nimble-footed Sindhu

Sindhu looked more alert as she zoomed to a 5-1 lead early on. Her trademark smashes and drops troubled Fang Jie, who also committed a lot of unforced errors. The Indian entered the break with an 11-6 lead. Sindhu was quick on her feet and covered the court well, returning everything thrown at her with ease. With the shuttle hitting the net a few times, Fang Jie reduced the deficit to 10-14 and then 12-16 but Sindhu finished things with two smashes.

The second game started on an even keel, with Fang Jie managing a slender 5-3 lead at one stage. However, Sindhu quickly turned things around as she reached the interval at 11-5 with her opponent finding the net.

It was mostly one-way traffic afterwards as Sindhu made her opponent work hard and dominated the rallies to seal the match.