Dubai World Superseries Finals 2017: PV Sindhu wins a thriller, Srikanth Kidambi suffers defeat

The Indian contingent had mixed fortunes on the first day of the $1,000, 000 Dubai World Superseries Finals 2017 with PV Sindhu winning her opener but Srikanth Kidambi having to face defeat. World No. 3 Sindhu dropped the middle game but roared back to a 21-11, 16-21, 21-18 win over the ninth-ranked He Bingjiao of China in a marathon Group A match that lasted 1 hour 4 minutes.

With this win, the 22-year-old Indian now sits in the second spot in her group where the Japanese World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi leads the standings following her 21-12, 21-19 victory over Sayaka Sato.

The left-handed 20-year-old He Bingjiao has been a thorn for Sindhu and led their head-to-head meetings, 5-4 prior to this showdown. It was only natural that the Chinese would fight back and that is exactly what she did after losing the first game, which was thoroughly dominated by the Indian.

Taking time away from Sindhu, she made it uncomfortable for the lanky Indian with her exceptional court coverage, blistering speed and quick change of directions. Sindhu led till 12-11 after which the youngster simply grew in confidence as the Indian struggled to keep the shuttle in the court.

Bingjiao began the decider also with a lot of conviction, surging to 5-2 before the World Championships silver medallist evened the game at 5-5. Sindhu’s aggression and determination shone forth after that as she made life difficult for her younger opponent, who found it hard to contain errors.

Bingjiao made one last push and trailed Sindhu by just one point at 16-17 and even saved a couple of match points in a tense ending only to see the Indian bagging the win soon after.

The 2016 semi-finalist Sindhu next takes on World No. 15 Sayaka Sato on Thursday.

Axelsen avenges Denmark Open defeat

The most recent showdown between the world champion Viktor Axelsen and the India No. 1 Srikanth Kidambi had turned out to be a thriller at the Denmark Open quarter-finals. The Indian trailed the World No. 1 for most of the match before holding his nerves for a remarkable three-game comeback win over the Dane in his own backyard.

On Wednesday in Dubai, there was no such repeat. World No. 4 Srikanth was playing his first international match since winning his fourth Superseries title of the season at the French Open in October.

Even though he did exhibit a lot of firepower, the sharpness was clearly lacking at the crucial stages. He did have an early advantage over the Dane, though, when he led Axelsen 9-4 after initially trailing 1-4. However, once Axelsen settled into the match and found his rhythm, he always had the edge despite Srikanth making it very close.

In a match that witnessed brilliant attacking prowess of both players, Axelsen levelled it at 11-11 in the first game and then raced through the rest of the game to bag it, 21-13.

In the second game, Axelsen stamped his authority with a 7-4 lead only to see his Indian rival coming within one point at 13-12. The defending champion motored his way from there to go up to 17-14.

Srikanth fought back for one last time and made it 17-19 before the world champion slammed shut his chances with a 21-13, 21-17 win in 37 minutes.

Srikanth, who reached the semi-finals in 2014, is now placed fourth in Group B and his next match will be against the seventh ranked Chou Tien Chen on Thursday.