Sindhu’s double role in India’s opening act

After winning her singles tie, Olympic silver medallist joins N Sikki Reddy to edge out Hong Kong 32; Kidambi Srikanth, Sai Praneeth lead men’s charge

NEW DELHI: PV Sindhu was in top form as the Rio Olympics silver medallist displayed her skills not just in singles but also in women’s doubles to give India a 3-2 win in their opening Group W round against Hong Kong in the Badminton Asia Team Championships. The 22-year-old Sindhu led the Indian women’s team from the front to notch a crucial win at the Stadium Sultan Abdul Halim in Alor Setar, Malaysia. They will take on Japan in their second and final group match on Thursday to qualify for the quarterfinals.

Sindhu quickly recovered from her heartbreaking loss in the India Open final in New Delhi on Sunday to beat Hong Kong’s Yip Pui Yin 21-12, 21-18 in 33 minutes in the first singles match.

But thereafter, India went on the back foot as they lost two back-to-back matches to go 1-2 down. Ashwini Ponnappa and Prajakta Sawant played their heart out but went down 22-20, 20-22, 10-21 to Ng Wing Yung and Yeung Nga Ting in a 52-minute women’s doubles clash.

Then young Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli took the court against Cheung Ying Mei but her fight ended with a 19-21, 21-18, 20-22 loss in an hour and six minutes, the longest contest of the tie, in the second singles as India trailed in the five-match tie.

Sindhu truly proved her mettle as she then combined with friend N Sikki Reddy to win the second doubles game, something that is not her forte. The two Indian girls notched a 21-15, 15-21, 21-14 win in 48 minutes over Ng Tsz Yau and Yuen Sin Ying to level the tie at 2-all.

After Sindhu’s victory under pressure, it eventually boiled down to the third and final women’s singles match between India’s Ruthvika Shivani Gadde and Hong Kong’s Yeung Sum Yee.

India looked well and out of the contest when Ruthvika lost the first game 16-21 but she rallied back to clinch the next two 21-16, 21-13 to give India the vital win.

MEN RULE

Later in the day, the Indian men’s team, boasting of singles shuttlers like World No.5 Kidambi Srikanth, Superseries winner B Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma, thrashed Philippines 5-0 in their opening Group D clash. Srikanth and Sai Praneeth and Verma won the singles while Manu Attri/ B Sumeeth Reddy and MR Arjun/Shlok Ramchandran won the doubles ties.