Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu made a winning start to her maiden campaign at the prestigious BWF World Super Series Final, defeating higher-ranked Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in an entertaining opening women's singles Group B match here on Wednesday.
Sindhu, who recently clinched the China Super Series Premier and reached the finals at Hong Kong Open, eked out a 12-21, 21-8, 21-15 win over World No 8 Yamaguchi in an exciting clash which lasted little over an hour.
In the opening game, Sindhu conceded a 3-6 lead early on as she faltered with her strokes even as Yamaguchi grabbed points with her deception and riding on her rival's mistakes to go 11-5 up at the break.
World No 10 Sindhu looked slightly impatient and it affected her performance as Yamaguchi took a 14-7 lead.
Sindhu was visibly frustrated as she faltered at the net and then struggled with a low return as Yamaguchi raced to 20-12. The Japanese then sealed the opening game after winning a long rally when Sindhu netted with a low return.
The sting was back in Sindhu's strokes in the second game as she took an early 4-0 lead. Yamaguchi narrowed it down to 4-6 and eventually drew parity at 7-7.
However, Sindhu continued to nose ahead and entered the interval at 11-7 with a round-the-head smash which the Japanese could not put away. She eventually grabbed 13 game point opportunity when Yamaguchi hit wide. The Japanese saved one before hitting the net to allow Sindhu make a comeback.
The decider began with a fast-paced rally which Yamaguchi should have won but she ended up hitting it wide. In the end, a sharp smash took Sindhu to 20-14 and she sealed the match when the Japanese hit long again.