GUANGZHOU: Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu finally broke her jinx against world no 1 Tai Tzu Ying with a come-from-behind win in a thriller, while Sameer Verma outclassed Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto at the World Tour Finals here Thursday.
After six successive losses in 13 meetings, Sindhu got the better of her nemesis Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei 14-21 21-16 21-18 in a Group A match that lasted a little over an hour. World No 14 Sameer, who qualified for the tournament at the last moment after defending his title at the Syed Modi International last month, dished out a dominating performance to beat the 10th ranked Sugiarto 21-16 21-7 in a 40-minute group B clash. The 24-year-old Indian had lost the opening match against world no 1 and world champion Kento Momota. Sindhu, who had finished runners-up in the last edition, gave ample display of her grit as she bounced back from a game down and erased a 6-11 deficit in the final game to record her first win over Asian Games champion Tzu Ying since the 2016 Rio Olympics.
In the 16-minute opening game, Sindhu couldn’t produce the winners initially and could only consolidate on the unforced errors of her rival. Tzu Ying, on the other hand, looked as impressive as ever with her deceptive strokes and technical acumen. Sindhu was lagging 2-6 early on. Tai extended her lead to 8-4 after Sindhu went long and wide.
A couple of good looking shots helped Sindhu to grabbed two points before she lifted one to the net. Two delightful shot with her racquet head on both sides of the court gave Tzu Ying a 11-7 advantage at the first break. After the breather, Tzu Ying unleashed two cross court returns on Sindhu’s backhand to continue gathering points, reaching 15-8. Sindhu grabbed the next three points before the Chinese Taipei shuttler produced a smash to break the run of points. Tzu Ying’s acute angled strokes bothered Sindhu as she reached 17-12. A lucky net chord gave another point to Tzu Ying, who also played an eye-catching behind-the-back shot to win another point. She grabbed six game points when Sindhu went to the net and sealed the opening game as the Indian went long.
In the second game, Tzu Ying made Sindhu run around the court with her acute angled returns but made many unforced errors herself. Sindhu jumped to 6-3 with her rival missing the lines time and again. At 3-6, a long rally ensued which ended with Tzu Ying’s incredible cross court stroke from the back of the court. (PTI)
