Saarbrücken (Germany), Oct 31 Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen made it a double delight for India, claiming the women’s and men’s singles titles with straight-game victories in the finals of the Hylo Open Super 500 badminton tournament here on Sunday.
Former world champion Sindhu, who won the Japan Open in July and finished runner-up at the French Open last week, displayed excellent control and precision in her strokeplay to register a commanding 21-12, 21-14 win over eighth seed and world No. 25 Line Højmark Kjærsfeldt of Denmark in the 39-minute women’s singles final. It was her second title of the season.
“It was important for me to give my 100% irrespective of who the opponent was. We’ve played a lot of times and for me it was important that I focus on every point. It’s just not about the whole game, but every point mattered to me,” Sindhu said.
“I took the lead from the beginning and I didn’t give her a chance,” she added.
Later in the day, Lakshya outwitted Jonatan Christie 21-17, 21-10 in the men’s singles final to complete a memorable double for India.
With the win, the world No. 8 Sindhu earned 9,200 ranking points to strengthen her bid for a place in the season-ending World Tour Finals.
“This gives me a lot of boost, a lot of confidence. I’m happy that things are going according to plan. I’m very grateful and thankful to my whole team. Everyone has worked really hard.
“I know there were days when you’re absolutely low, but still your team is there to pump you up. It’s been an amazing week and I think it’s time to go back and celebrate now. It has been an amazing two weeks,” she said.
Asked if she was back to her best, Sindhu said: “Definitely yes. Hats off to my whole team, we’ve been planning accordingly. As you keep growing, it’s important to be smarter in what you choose.
“But at the same time, it was important for me to just stay calm. There is still room to improve. Things are getting better and I’m happy with that,” she said.
Sindhu vs Line
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Sindhu, seeded second here, came into the final with an overwhelming 6-1 head-to-head lead against her opponent.
The Indian began confidently with a whipping cross-court winner, but a couple of errors allowed the Dane to stay level at 3-3.
Line tried to stretch the rallies, but Sindhu’s deception and sharp net play helped her open up an 8-5 lead. A deft touch at the net, a body smash and another net error from the Dane gave Sindhu a three-point advantage at the interval.
The Indian maintained her lead at 14-11 with a well-placed push from the back of the court before producing a superb backhand winner to move to 17-12.
A miscued net shot from Line put Sindhu two points away from taking the opening game. The Indian soon earned eight game points and converted the first to take the lead.
Sindhu continued to dictate play in the second game, moving ahead 4-2 after the change of ends and extending her advantage to 6-3 with a series of winners into the open spaces.
Line fought back to 6-7, but sent a shot long, handing the advantage back to the Indian. Another wide return and a winner helped Sindhu stretch her lead to 10-6.
Sindhu kept building on the advantage, moving to 17-11 as the Dane continued to struggle with her net play.
An attacking return gave Sindhu six championship points, and she sealed the title when Line committed another net error.
(PTI News)
