Competition: OUE Singapore Open Superseries 2017Venue: Singapore Indoor StadiumCategory: SuperseriesDate: Thursday, April 13, 2017Round: SecondTime: (5) PV Sindhu vs Fitriani Fitriani at 2.50pmChannel: Star Sports 2 and Star Sports HD2Live streaming: Star Sports Hotstar
Preview
(5) PV Sindhu (BWF Rank: 2) vs Fitriani Fitriani (BWF Rank: 28)
Head-to-head: Sindhu leads 1-0
PV Sindhu’s first match as a World No. 2 in the first round of the Singapore Open was quite a stern test. She found the going very tough initially and managed to win just 10 points against the former All England Championships winner Nozomi Okuhara. She eventually managed to turn her fortunes and succeeded in pulling off a hard-fought 10-21, 21-15, 22-20 win after staving off a late surge from the Japanese.
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Up next for her is a comparatively easier opponent – Fitriani Fitriani of Indonesia, who is ranked 26 places below her. The two met this year itself at the Syed Modi International where the Pullela Gopichand protege beat Fitriani, 21-11, 21-19.
Having said that, it needs to be remembered that the Indonesian teenager is one of the best upcoming talents and has been making steady progress for some time now. She has performed well in Grand Prix Gold events, with semi-final finishes at the Syed Modi International as well as the Swiss Open this year.
Sindhu thus cannot afford to take her lightly or let her settle into a good rhythm. The competitive first round definitely must have helped her find her fighting skills after her Malaysia Open opening round setback and today’s performance should stand her in good stead for the rest of the tournament. Sindhu has not lost before the quarter-finals in six of her last seven BWF events. There’s no reason why she cannot reach yet another quarter-final.
Schedule for the rest of the Indian contingent:
Men's singles
Sai Praneeth vs Qiao Bin at 12.30pm
Srikanth Kidambi vs at 7pm
Women's doubles
Ashwini Ponnappa/N Sikki Reddy vs Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi at 6.10pm
Mixed doubles
Ashwini Ponnappa/Sumeeth Reddy vs Lee So Hee/Jae Hwan Kim at 11.40am
(All timings in Indian Standard Time)
