Top Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu advanced to the finals of the men’s and women’s singles at the Syed Modi India international badminton event on Saturday, winning their semi-final matches in straight games. Sindhu, aiming for a third title in Lucknow, will face China’s Wu Luo Yu, who defeated Thailand’s Lalinrat Chaiwan 21-19, 21-12. Sen will face Singapore’s fourth seed, Jia Heng Jason Teh.
The latter defeated Indian second seed Priyanshu Rajawat 21-13, 21-19 in the other semifinal. Sindhu, the world’s number 18, gave 70th-ranked Hooda no chance in her maiden match against her role model, while Sen, the 2022 Commonwealth Games winner, fought all out to defeat Ogawa in 42 minutes. PV Sindhu, too, faced little opposition against Hooda, who made a few unforced errors in the 36-minute encounter.
In the first game, PV Sindhu led 5-3 thanks to a series of accurate cross-court drop strokes. Unnati initially kept up with well-placed pushes and drops, but her mistakes allowed PV Sindhu to lead 11-8 at the break. Sindhu increased the advantage to 15-8 before coasting to victory. The veteran shuttler took an 8-3 and 11-4 lead in the second. She extended her aggressive play with a smash.
India’s One-Two Badminton Punch
An overhead cross-court drop, and a body smash to lead 18-7. Unnati saved one of the match’s 12 points before PV Sindhu won due to another blunder. It has been a poor outing for India in Badminton for the last few months. Indian badminton has struggled with form. They have failed in numerous events and finished on the podium a few times. Giving up the lead after winning a game is a traditional issue for Indian shuttlers.
Sindhu said, “I am happy with today’s performance. I was just trying out a few strokes, and overall I was confident with the way I was playing.” She praised Unnati, “Unnati played her best, but I didn’t give her a chance to overtake me. She is an upcoming player, I wish her all the very best.”
