Dubai: If world No 10 Sun Yu from China was feeling any discomfort from her heavily bandaged legs, you would never have guessed it.
Less than 24-hours after winning a dramatic, opening match against Olympic champion Carolina Marin at the BWF Dubai World Superseries Finals, the towering six-footer displayed no signs of carrying an injury as she recorded a clinical 21-15, 21-17 victory over India’s P.V. Sindhu, the Rio silver-medallist.
The back-to-back wins ensured that Sun qualified for the semi-finals from Group B, a feat that was also achieved by world No 1. Tai Tzu Ying from Taiwan and the experienced Sung Hyun from Korea in Group A.
Tai brushed aside sixth ranked Thai Ratchanok Intanon 21-12, 21-14 while Sung cut down Chinese teenager He Bingjiao 21-19, 21-5.
Sindhu’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage in her first appearance at the Superseries Finals hinge on her pivotal match against Marin today, in a much- re-match anticipated of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, which the Spaniard won 19-21, 21-12, 21-15 in a titanic contest, a performance that propelled the Indian into international badminton’s upper echelons.
“Obviously it’s a big game for me tomorrow, but I’m not trying to think about it too much,” said the 21-year-old Sindhu, who only broke into the Top 20 of the world rankings in 2013.
She has d never looked back since and has no intentions of doing it now. “Whatever has happened you can change,” she said, referring to her performance against Sun. “I think I was a little nervous and made too many unforced errors. I wasn’t having too much luck with my lifts which allowed her to play her natural game.
“She played well and was able to force me to the back of the court frequently, which didn’t help.”
Relax a bit
Have trailed all through the opening set Sindhu staged a mini-comeback at 20-15 to reel off five points on the trot, but it was a case of leaving it too late as Sun sealed the game with a cross-court drop shot. A tactical team-talk with her coach Gopi Chand appeared to pay off as the five-foot 10-inch Sindhu began to dominate the exchanges in the second set, making her opponent scramble all over the court to retrieve the shuttle.
But at 15-15 Sun was able to raise her game several notches as she took the lead for the first time and resolutely held on for victory. “I’m happy with the way I played yesterday and today,” said the Chinese player, who moved to 4-3 on head-to-head matches against Sindhu, her vanquisher in last month’s China Open.
“Now that I have qualified for the semi-finals, I can relax a bit and give my legs a bit of a rest. They are sore, particularly my right leg, but I just have to deal with it all the same. When I play I don’t try to think of it.”
Meanwhile, reigning world No 1 Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark and Tian Houwei guaranteed themselves of semi-final places in Men’s Singles with contrasting victories in Group A.
Jorgensen needed just 37 minutes to beat Marc Zwiebler of Germany, 21-18 21-10, while Tian overpowered Hong Kong’s Hu Yun 21-19 13-21 21-7.
“Two good wins, that’s what I hoped for,” said Jorgensen. “I was struggling a bit with my focus as Marc had an injury in the first game. It was a long break and I had to stay in the game. I’ve played Marc a lot of times, we know each other so well. It’s been a pleasure competing against him since I was young.”
