Form is temporary, class is permanent. And, lee Chong Wei gave a lesson in this on Saturday during his Yonex Sunrise India Open semifinal clash against Boonsak Ponsana.
The world No 1 Malaysian had to stage a bit of a fightback after losing a game in his 21-11, 18-21, 21-8 win against the Thai seventh seed. But the way he stamped his authority in the deciding game was indeed a perfect chapter to master for any shuttler.
India’s very own PV Sindhu might like to take more than a few leaves out of that as the lanky girl seemed to have given it up a bit too early against world No 6 Ratchanok Intanon, going down 12-21, 6-21 in 31 minutes in her penultimate stage fixture. The challenge in the men’s singles also ended earlier in the day when sixth-seeded Kenichi Tago of Japan beat Anand Pawar 21-16, 21-11. After that, Sindhu was the lone Indian in the tournament.
The 18-year-old Thai might be known for her athletic abilities and quick play, but 17-year-old Sindhu seemed to have forgotten her that self which carried her all the way to the semifinals, fighting every match with a praiseworthy spirit. The one that took the court at Siri Fort Sports Complex on Saturday was a much submissive version.
While Ratchanok was racing away with points in bulk, Sindhu was making do with one or two in between, off her rival’s errors. With just nine rankings places between them, Sindhu at 15 seemed to have already bowed to the third-seeded Ratchanok’s superiority. There were neither many shots to praise, the spectators though still worked their vocal chords to a maximum to cheer for her, nor was any will to fight for her place in the final, where Ratchanok now meets second seed and world No 4 German, Juliane Schenk, who beat Aprilla Yuswandari of Indonesia 21-18, 21-18.
“I made a lot of mistakes in the match,” Sindhu said later. “After giving away a lead of almost 11 points in the second game, it was just impossible to come back.”
And, that is exactly the difference between players like her and ones like Wei.
The top seed had no problem in taking the opening game 21-11 even at his comparatively lethargic pace. It was the second game, where he later admitted that he “lost focus”, that actually woke him up from his slumber. After the 2008 champion and current world No 11 Ponsana took the match into the third game by taking the second 21-18, Wei showed all present what it meant to be the world No 1.
And, the stands indeed loved that. For, the third game version of Wei was so wonderfully fierce that none could stop from praising the treatment he was meting out to Ponsana.
The Malaysian didn’t even let his opponent reach in time for attempting some returns. Such quick and power-laced were his shots that Ponsana tried to dive and stretch as best he could but nothing worked. He could only take those points which Wei either hit onto the net or out of the playing field.
It took Wei 53 minutes, the third game though finishing in a flash, to set up the showdown with Tago.
With Wei having missed out on the trophy in the 2012 edition, going down to Korea’s Shon Wan-Ho in the title clash, he would definitely like to give his 2011 India Open silverware a fitting partner on Sunday.