After an upset in the China Open after losing out to a teenager in China Open, the pressure was on shuttler PV Sindhu to do well in the Hong Kong Open. The leader of the Indian contingent did not disappoint, and with a win by 21-17 and 21-17 over Ratchanok Intanon, she sailed in the final of the tournament where she will be facing Tai Tzu Ting.
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Ting defeated Sindhu in the final of the same tournament last year by 21-15 and 21-17. The pressure to overturn the result this time will be on the PV Singh – the Rio Olympic silver medallist.
Ahead of the much anticipated final, Pullela Gopichand, Sindhu’s coach has said that the final will be a tough one for Sindhu, but the key will be to stick to the strategy,
“It’s a good match, Sindhu is smart enough to mix her pace and defence. She is moving quite well and is in good shape today. It will be a tough match but if Sindhu sticks to the strategy she should be able to win,” he said.
If Sindhu wins the final, it will make her just the third Indian to win the tournament. Only Prakash Padukone (1982) and Saina Nehwal (2010) have won the tournament in the past till date. Sindhu was close to the title last year but lost the final.
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Talking of other Indian shuttlers, Saina Nehwal crashed out of the tournament after a loss in the second round to Chen YF by 18-21, 21-19, 21-10.
In men’s category, HS Pronnoy qualified for the second round but crashed out after losing out to K Sakai by 11-11, 21-10 and 21-15. Parupalli Kashyap and Sourabh Kumar were already out of the tournament after losing their opening rounds.
In doubles, the pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy failed in the qualifying round. The men’s pair of Shlok Ramachandran and Arjun MR too lost in the qualifying round.
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