Sindhu makes positive start at Dubai Super Series Finals; crosses first hurdle easily while Srikanth loses

NewsBharati    14-Dec-2017
Total Views |

Dubai, December 14: India's star shuttler and Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu on Wednesday made a positive start to her campaign in women's singles of Dubai Super Series Finals which is being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. On the other side, World No. 4 Kidambi Srikanth lost the first match in the men’s singles of Dubai Super Series Finals.

 

Notably, the 22-year-old Sindhu registered a comprehensive win over World No. 9 He Bingjiao by 21-11, 16-21, 21-18 in a Group A match that lasted an hour and four minutes. Playing against an opponent she has faced twice this year, Sindhu showed good defence and earned useful points at every interval. In the first set, Sindhu led 10-6 when the Chinese produced a cross-court return but she hit the net next as Sindhu held the advantage at the break.


However, Sindhu continued to dominate the proceedings after the break, moving 17-8 ahead when Bingjiao committed a judgemental error at the baseline. Sindhu grabbed nine-game points when her opponent hit long and closed out the game with a cross-court smash.

While in the second set, Bingjiao surged to the 4-0 lead early on before Sindhu drew parity at 7-7 but the Chinese once again moved ahead to 10-7 when the Indian hit wide. After a short break, Sindhu made an impressive comeback but was not enough to win the set. Sindhu lost the second set by 16-21.

In the decider, Bingjiao led 4-2 initially but Sindhu clawed back at 5-5 when the Chinese sent the shuttle to the nets. However, Sindhu started controlling the rallies and eventually grabbed an 11-7 lead at the break which continued till the end and the Indian won the set by 21-18 easily.


Meanwhile, Kidambi Srikanth had to suffer a loss by 13-21, 17-21 loss to World No. 1 and defending champion Viktor Axelsen in a Group B men's singles match that lasted just 38 minutes. Sindhu faces Japan's Sayaka Sato next, while Srikanth will take on Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen on Thursday.