Madrid: Indian star shuttler and two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who had a disappointing campaign at the Swiss Open badminton, entered the final of the Madrid Spain Masters 2023 her on Saturday, IANS reported.
The shuttler was failing to progress beyond the second round in the BWF World Tour events this year, and the current one is her first final. She had missed the entire second half of the 2022 season after an injury from Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last August.
The 27-year-old from Hyderabad prevailed over her opponent from Singapore 24-22,22-20, winning the closely-fought encounter in 48 minutes. She will face the winner of the other semifinal between top-seed Carolina Marin of Spain and Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in the final.
Sindhu saved three game points to eventually win the first game in extra points. The Indian shuttler, ranked 11th in the BWF rankings, started slowly as her opponent quickly raced to a 13-8 lead in the first game. However, Sindhu fought back to reduce the deficit to 15-17.
Yeo Jia Min made it 20-17 but could not capitalise on it as Sindhu saved three game points before taking the first game.
Sindhu carried the momentum in the second game, taking a slender lead only to see Yeo Jia Min fight back and level the score at 17-17. Thereafter, Sindhu stepped up her game once again to seal the match in 48 minutes.
Sindhu is the only Indian shuttler in the Madrid Spain Masters 2023 after Kidambi Srikanth went out in the men’s singles quarterfinals.