Malaysia Masters: PV Sindhu in semis despite mid-game slump

Kuala Lumpur, May 24

Double Olympics medallist PV Sindhu took a giant stride towards securing a title at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 after progressing to the semifinals with a hard-fought win over top seed Han Yue of China here today.

World No. 15 Sindhu recovered from a mid-game slump to outwit world No. 6 Han 21-13 14-21 21-12 in a 55-minute quarterfinals battle to avenge her loss to the Chinese in their last meeting at the Asia badminton Championships in Ningbo last month.

Sindhu will now square off against either Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani or Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the last-four stage.

In other results, Ashmita Chaliha’s fine run ended in the quarterfinals with a 10-21 15-21 loss to sixth seed Zhang Yi Man of China.

Sindhu gave a good account of herself during the 55-minute match as she broke off from 3-3 in the opening game to take an 11-5 lead at the break.

The Chinese slowly made her way to 13-16 but Sindhu reeled off the remaining five straight points to take the opening game.

Stung by the reversal, Han zoomed to a 5-0 lead after the change of sides. She continued to dominate and jumped to a massive 15-2 advantage and despite some fightback from the Indian, Han took the match to the decider.

Sindhu regrouped in the third game to open up a massive 11-3 lead at the break, which proved decisive as Han just couldn’t bridge the gap.