PV Sindhu makes it to All England quarters
PV Sindhu survived a late fightback from her Thai opponent Nitchaon Jindapol to reach the quarter-finals of the All England Open badminton tournament in Birmingham on Thursday.
The World No. 4 was made to toil hard for the win as she clinched the gruelling second round match 21-13, 13-21, 21-18 in a little over 66 minutes.
Sindhu started the match quite confidently and was able to clinch the first game without much difficulty. However, Jindapol staged a brilliant comeback in the second game as she took an early lead and that proved to be the turning point as she took the second game 21-13 to level the encounter.
The last game was an evenly contested affair as both players were almost neck-and-neck till the very end and although PV Sindhu was trailed 17-18, she won four consecutive points to register her second win of the tournament. In the first round, PV Sindhu defeated Pornpawee Chochuwong 20-22, 21-17, 21-9.
Earlier, China’s Lin Dan and Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei eased through their opening matches but women’s third seed Ratchanok Intanon crashed out.
Two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan talked up how much the tournament meant to him after beating Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus 21-19, 21-16 on the opening day in Birmingham on Wednesday.
“I think this year there is a higher pace on the court so both of us had to spend a lot of time to get used to it,” said the Chinese sixth seed, who has won the tournament six times.
“But after that I think both of us found our own rhythm to stay in the match.
“I think the All England means more to me than the world championships and I’m looking forward to the rest of the week.”
Four-time champion Lee, Lin’s great rival, beat Brazil’s Ygor Coelho 21-15, 21-17. Lee is the top seed following the withdrawal of Viktor Axelsen.
India’s Kidambi Srikanth, the third seed, lost the first set against France’s Brice Leverdez but recovered to win 7-21, 21-14, 22-20.
“I think he (Leverdez) definitely played really well and I was down match point in the third set and I would say I’m really lucky to pull this off,” said the 25-year-old Indian.
In the women’s draw, Canada’s Michelle Li found her best form to shock 2017 runner-up Intanon, of Thailand, 21-15, 14-21, 21-19 in 66 minutes.
“I feel pretty good and I feel like I played pretty well today,” said the world number 16. “I was able to keep my nerves in control this time so I’m very happy.
“I played Ratchanok many times last year and I’ve never won a game off her so I think I was well prepared and I was just very focused and tried not to rush -- I think that really helped.”