The top Chinese have stayed away from the India Open – but in two of their women’s singles players –Yu Sun and Yao Xue – they are readying their next generation of top level competitors.
Thus, when PV Sindhu took on Sun Yu, a day after dismantling the challenge of Yao Xue, it was very much a battle of the next generation of badminton stars. Just as she had done on Wednesday, she used skill and intelligence in equal measure to outplay Sun Yu and enter the quarterfinals of the India Open. Sindhu won 19-21 21-19 21-15.
More importantly, she had struck a telling blow for India. The Chinese won’t be excessively worried, but they will be concerned. They have Sindhu in their sights, especially since she beat Wang Shixian at the Asian Championships last week. Today, Yao Xue was seen video recording Sindhu’s match – no doubt it will be analysed once they return.
Like the other top Chinese women’s singles players, Yu Sun is of formidable height – towering around the 6-ft mark, and so it was a battle of physically similar opponents. Yu Sun possesses a whippy smash like most other tall players, and she put that to good use. The game was close for the most part, but Sun had the marginal advantage, and when Sindhu sent a wild smash wide on game point, it looked like she had a long way to climb back.
What followed was a fascinating tactical battle. Keen to prevent the Chinese from using her big smashes, Sindhu constantly forced Sun to run diagonally, playing soft and avoiding the full-blooded hit unless presented with an opportunity. Faced with the lack of open hitting opportunities, the Chinese invariably committed an error during the rallies. Two perfect net shots by the Indian helped her lead and a final smash into the net by Sun gave Sindhu the game.
The chess game continued into the third, with both matching each other shot for shot. Towards the home stretch, it was Sindhu who managed to keep her focus, playing steady and without error to put the pressure on the Chinese. Two smashes gave her match point and she duly converted with ease.
Other Indians in action early on the day – V Diju/Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa/Pradnya Gadre – fell in contrasting styles. While Diju and Jwala were outplayed by the veteran Thai pair of Sudket/Saralee, Ponnappa and Gadre had their chances against the Japanese duo of Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi, but lost 21-14 20-22 21-12.