Working with Anup Sridhar and Lee Hyun-il at the moment, PV Sindhu increased her head-to-head record against Han to 7-1.
Two-time Olympic champion PV Sindhu advanced to the Denmark Open Super 750 badminton tournament quarterfinals on Thursday after overcoming a slow start to defeat world number seven Han Yue of China in an exciting match. Currently ranked 18th and a former world champion, Sindhu won a 63-minute second-round match 18-21, 21-12, 21-16. Since defeating Han in the Malaysia Masters final in May, this is her first victory over a player ranked in the top 10.
Sindhu, who presently trains with Anup Sridhar and Lee Hyun-il, improved her head-to-head record against Han to 7-1 in eight meetings with this victory.
Sindhu, the only Indian left in the competition and a finalist in the 2015 edition, will next play either Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt or Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, who won bronze at the 2015 Olympics in Paris, in her third quarterfinal appearance of the year.
Aside from the Malaysian finals, she had advanced to the round of eight in both the French Open and the Spain Madrid Masters.
Although they have not faced each other this year, Sindhu, who returned from Paris without a medal for the first time in three Olympics, has a commanding 10-2 record against Tunjung.
This match was especially important because Han, 24, had already defeated Sindhu at the Badminton Asia Championships in April.
Sindhu and Han started with short rallies, splitting the initial eight points but Sindhu conceded five straight points to fall behind. After playing a 79-minute opening on Wednesday, she aimed to prolong the rallies in order to exhaust her opponent.
Prior to Han’s accurate online return, the Indian was able to reduce the deficit to 9-10, suggesting that this tactic was effective.
After the interval, Han had a 14-10 lead, and Sindhu’s aggressive strategy was waning. Her poor shot execution caused her to struggle at 13–17. After Sindhu was cramped by a body return, Han made four saves and scored six game points with a cross-court shot to win the match.
With a 3-0 lead following the switch of sides, Sindhu emerged with good intentions. She demonstrated her resolve at 4-3 with a thunderous smash on the return of serve.
Sindhu took advantage of Han’s unforced mistakes to gain a five-point lead at the half by rallying a little faster.
As Han struggled, the momentum changed entirely. With a net kill to increase the lead to 15–7, Sindhu demonstrated her dominance. She quickly grabbed ten game points and forced a final.
Both opponents upped the ante in the third game, but Sindhu seemed more assertive. She gave her returns more force, taking an early 6-3 lead. Fortunes changed once more, though, as Han reduced her mistakes and made accurate returns to put herself four points ahead at the half with a six-point surge.
An energised Sindhu came back and equalised with four points in a row. Even though Han missed a few backhand returns that went wide, the Indian appeared energised and was hitting her returns with more sting. To stay in the match, Han used a deceptive, wristy return to win a 45-shot rally at 12–13.
From 14–14 to 16–16, the two traded blows, frequently switching the lead. Then, with a backhand winner, Sindhu surged to 19-16, two points ahead after Han missed. When Han missed a shot, she sealed the win with a high backhand block that gave her four match points.