P.V. Sindhu made a positive start to her campaign but K. Srikanth suffered a straight-game loss on the opening day of the $1 million Dubai Super Series badminton Final, here on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old Sindhu Olympic silver medallist, who had a 4-5 head-to-head record against World No. 9 He Bingjiao, dished out a gritty performance to overcome the left-handed Chinese 21-11, 16-21, 21-18 in a Group A match that lasted an hour and four minutes.
World No. 4 Srikanth, however, couldn’t bring out his top game as he suffered a 21-13, 21-17 loss to World No. 1 and defending champion Viktor Axelsen in a Group B men’s singles match that lasted 38 minutes.
Sindhu faces Japan’s Sayaka Sato next, while Srikanth will take on Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen.
Playing an opponent she has faced twice this year, Sindhu showed good defence as she engaged her rival in rallies by putting the shuttle in awkward positions and tried to close out the points.
She had an immaculate defence to counter Bingjiao’s strokes and pushed the Chinese to commit errors.
The Indian led 10-6 when the Chinese produced a cross court return but she hit the net next as Sindhu held the advantage at the break.
Sindhu continued to dominate the proceedings after the break, moving 17-8 ahead when Bingjiao committed a judgemental error at the baseline. Sindhu grabbed nine game points when her opponent hit long and closed out the game with a cross court smash.
After taking the second game, Bingjiao led 4-2 initially in the decider but Sindhu clawed back at 5-5 when the Chinese sent the shuttle to the nets. The Indian grabbed a 11-7 lead at the break and Bingjiao continued to breath down Sindhu’s neck with her attacking game, narrowing the deficit to 16-17 after the interval.
A good judgement at the baseline after another fierce rally took Sindhu to 18-16. The Indian then earned four match points, of which two were saved, before Sindhu sealed the issue when Bingjiao faltered at the net again.
In the men’s match, Srikanth seemed of-colour as Axelsen towered over the Indian with his better agility and placement.
