Sindhu stuns Olympic champion Xuerui

It is said that PV Sindhu is the next best thing in Indian badminton after Saina Nehwal.  It was proved right on Friday when the 17-year-old Sindhu stunned Olympic gold medallist and world No 2 Li Xuerui of China to storm in to the women’s singles semifinals of the China Masters badminton tournament in Changzhou.

Having had to face the Olympic champion for a place in the last four, Sindhu took it as just any other match. “It was a no pressure match. The way she has been playing, she had a chance. She warmed up well for the game and ensured that she started well. In that way, the win did not come as a surprise,” national coach Pullela Gopichand, who is accompanying the Indian shuttlers, told DNA.

Sindhu, indeed, did begin well and took only 45 minutes to show the second-seeded Xuerui the door, winning 21-19 9-21 21-16. The Hyderabadi will take on fourth seed Yanjiao Jiang in Saturday’s semifinal.

Sindhu did not actually celebrate her win in a big way. “I am very happy. But I have a game on Saturday,” was all she said after returning from dinner. “I thought I should give my best. I did not think too much and gave 100%.”

Gopichand said that Sindhu had to battle the court conditions and came up trumps. “She played well. There was a lot of drift on the court. The conditions were difficult. She attacked well and also moved well,” Gopi said moments after the victory. “Her strength is attacking and her hard work is paying good dividends.”

Still in her early days in badminton, Gopi said that the victory was “great”. “She has been playing international badminton for the last one-and-a-half years. She still has a long way to go. But this is a good start. It was a great victory against Xuerui.”

It was Sindhu’s first victory against Xuerui in two head-to-head clashes. Their previous encounter was in the Thomas and Uber Cup preliminaries in February 2012, which the Chinese won 21-16 21-13.

Sindhu, who won the Asia Youth under-19 championships in July, trains at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad.

Also entering the semifinal was Ajay Jayaram, who got the better of the fellow Indian Sourabh Varma 12-21 21-14 21-16 in men’s singles quarterfinal. Gopi said that Jayaram has a very good chance of entering the final. Jayaram, who won in 49 minutes, will take on Hong Kong’s Yun Hu in the semifinal.

Meanwhile, RMV Gurusaidutt, who accounted for eighth-seeded Indian Parupalli Kashyap in the pre-quarters on Thursday, lost to top-seeded Chinese Long Chen 21-8 21-12 in the last-eight stage. About Kashyap’s loss, Gopichand said: “Both have played together, know each other’s game, so there was no surprises in that.”
 

Results (ALL QUARTERFINALS) Indian: Singles: Men: 1-C Long (Chn) bt RMV Gurusaidutt 21-8 21-12; A Jayaram bt S Varma 12-21 21-14 21-16; Women: PV Sindhu bt 2-L Xuerui (Chn) 21-19 9-21 21-16; Others: Singles: Men: 4-P Du (Chn) bt 7-Z Wang (Chn) 21-11 21-12; Y Hu (Hkg) bt B Qiao (Chn) 21-17 21-9; Women: 1-W Yihan (Chn) bt 5-R Intanon (Tha) 21-15
21-17; S Taerattanachai (Tha) bt M Mitani
(Jpn) 21-13 21-13; 4-Y Jiang (Chn) bt
B Ongbumrungpan (Tha) 21-15 16-21 21-15