PV Sindhu reaches her first final of the year with a straight-sets win over Singapore’s Jiamin Yang at the Spanish Masters in Madrid
Post Date – 10:00 PM, Saturday – 4/1/23
Madrid: Double Olympic medalist PV Sindhu reached her first final of the year after back-to-back wins over Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min in the Spanish Masters Super 300 Championship here in Madrid on Saturday.
Second seed Pusarla Sindhu battled out 48 minutes to overcome lower-ranked Singaporean 24-22 22-20 in a tight Women’s Singles semi-final. Sindhu played Min with a 4-0 record.
With 15-20 behind, Sindhu showed great fighting spirit. She saved 7 game points and won the first game 24-22. She used the body smash to great effect and converted her only game point chance.
In the second game, Sindhu fell behind 1-4 and led 11-6 by 5 points. However, the world No. 33 made a fine lob in the minute to make it 17-17. Sindhu then scored two match points, but Min managed to save both before flicking a ball wide to give the Indian her third.
This time Sindhu made no mistake and Min found the net. It was Sindhu’s first final since winning gold and the Commonwealth Games last year. She will face the winner between local favorites top seed Carolina Marin and Indonesia’s Gregoria Dunjung in the second match of the semifinals.
The win will be a huge boost to Sindhu, who has struggled with his form this season as he returns to action after a long injury hiatus. Sindhu dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since November 2016.
She was eliminated in the first round of the prestigious All England Championships and failed to defend her Swiss Open Super 300 title earlier this month. She had first-round exits at the India Open and Malaysia Open in January.
