PV Sindhu defeats He Bingjiao, Kidambi Srikanth loses in Badminton Superseries Finals
December 14, 2017
World No 3 PV Sindhu had to dig deep into her reserves to defeat Chinese world No. 9 He Bingjiao 21-11, 16-21, 21-18 in a Group A match at the BWF World Superseries Finals in Dubai on Wednesday.
In men’s singles, world No. 4 Kidambi Srikanth lost to Denmark’s world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen 21-17, 21-13 in just 38 minutes.
Sindhu, who won silver at the 2017 BWF World Championships, took one hour and four minutes to win. The Indian shuttler had finished as losing semi-finalist in the 2016 edition of the year-ending event.
The Indian’s resilient performance against Binjiao under pressure and her stellar form this year, in which she won two Super Series titles, raises prospects of Sindhu finishing better in the 2017 edition.
Sindhu’s group also has Japan’s world No 2 Akane Yamaguchi and her compatriot Sayaka Sato (world No 15). The top two players from each of the two groups will proceed to the semi-finals.
Yamaguchi defeated Sato 21-12, 21-19 earlier on Wednesday. Sindhu will next face Sato on Thursday.
Coming into the round-robin game, Bingjiao enjoyed a 5-4 win-loss record against Sindhu. However, India’s Rio Olympics silver medallist had no problem in winning the first game 21-11 in just 14 minutes.
Despite Bingjao trying to match Sindhu in the initial phase, the India slowly built on her slender 6-4 lead. Bingjiao could not come up with anything special and soon trailed her by 10 points. Sindhu held to that lead to pocket the game 21-11.
In the second game, Sindhu’s Chinese rival came back strong. She matched the Indian star in every shot, and from the score of 7-7 started to dominate. Though Sindhu managed to take brief lead at 12-11, it did not last long.
Bingjiao garnered three straight points to go 14-12 up. She never let that lead diminish and clinched the second game 21-16 in 21 minutes.
Bingjiao carried her momentum from the second game into the third and took a 5-2 lead early on. From this point, Sindhu started her fightback. She first took three straight points and then went 8-6 up.
Srikanth loses
Srikanth, only fourth player ever to win four Super Series titles in a year, could not live up to his biling and went down tamely to the top-ranked Axelsen.
The Danish star was on the job right from the start and never let Srikanth sneak in with a chance. He took just 38 minutes to defeat Srikanth 21-13, 21-17.
Srikanth will next face Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei on Thursday. Srikanth’s group also has Shi Yuqi.
Sindhu and Srikanth are the only two Indians in the year-ending competition.
