Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu enjoyed one of her finest hours of the season as she entered her first final of 2019 by Chen Yufei in the semi-final of the Indonesia Open BWF Tour Super 1000 tournament but she now wants to finish the week with the elusive title.
After an impressive win over Nozomi Okuhara in the last eight, Sindhu produced another stunning performance with a straight-game win over All England Champion Chen in Jakarta on Saturday.
PV Sindhu vs Chen Yufei as it happened: Sindhu wins in straight games
Sindhu, who has been struggling a bit this season, showed her brilliance once again as she saw off world No 3 Chen 21-19, 21-10 in just 46 minutes.
“I played semifinals in Indian Open and in Singapore but couldn’t cross that [so far in 2019],” Sindhu told reporters after her win. “Ups and downs are always there, I learned from my mistakes and came back stronger. First final this year, so I hope I don’t leave this opportunity and get the gold medal.”
The World no 5 Indian, who reached the semifinals at Singapore and India Open this year, thus set up a summit clash with Japan’s fourth seed Akane Yamaguchi. Sindhu holds a 10-4 advantage over Yamaguchi, whom she has beaten in the last four meetings.
“With Akane, we have played a lot of times and it’s going to be a long match (smiles). I have to be prepared for that. I have to rest and come back stronger. There’s not much to strategise, we know each other’s game. On the court, we need to be patient and each point is important,” Sindhu said.
On Saturday, Sindhu made a statement with her performance. Chen, who has won at Australia, Swiss and All England this year, has been the most prolific player this season and looked good in the first game but a fighting Sindhu held her own in the opening game and then completely dominated the second to seal the final spot.
“My approach today was just [how it would be] against any player. I was not thinking ‘she’s in form, she’s doing well’. I was confident that I was in good form, good shape. Even when I was trailing, I never took a back step, I fought back. She is an all-rounder, a very different player, but then I was prepared for anything,” she said.
It was an advantage for me to win the first game, and the second game was easy after I took lead after trailing 2-5. Really happy with my performance, and I hope I play the same way [in final],” Sindhu added.
Sindhu had a word of appreciation for the crowd as well, adding they turn up in the same way on Sunday.
The Indian No 1 was asked about her preparations ahead of Tokyo Olympics and she had a guarded response.
“It’s equally important to keep oneself fit and perform well at the tournaments. Just taking it step by step. Just one year to go to the Olympics and every tournament is equally important for me,” she said.