Credit: X
Indian ace shuttler PV Sindhu essayed a stunning display in the Malaysia Masters as she defeated the top seed Han Yue from China to advance to the semi-final. In the quarter-final fixture on Friday, she cruised past Yue by 21-13, 14-21, 21-12 to qualify for the first semifinal of this year’s BWF tour.
Ranked no.15 in the BWF rankings, Sindhu was in search of her old momentum as she has yet to win a single title since clinching the Singapore Open in 2022. After a long injury layoff, she returned to the court this year in February but was forced to skip the Thailand Open and Uber Cup in April and May. However, her fierce return to the Malaysian masters could be a great revenge for the Rio medalist.
The 28-year-old shuttler went into the match following a thumping win over Republic of Korea’s Sim Yu Jin by 21-13, 12-21, 21-14, which helped her carry the form into the knockout match against the Chinese ace. In the first game, after a 13-16 marginal lead, Sindhu went berserk to count five straight points to seal the game.
However, in the second game, Han zoomed to a great lead as she once got over with a humongous lead of 15-2 which eventually was unattainable for the Indian veteran. In the make-or-break game, Sindhu finally held her nerves to notch up a great win over her Chinese counterpart and avenged her previous loss at the Asia Badminton Championships in Ningbo last month.
