If someone thought that PV Sindhu's recent win over world No 1 Chinese, Shixian Wang, was a momentary spell of good form, the Indian teenager gave the doubters a fitting reply when she sailed into the semifinals of the Yonex Sunrise India Open here on Friday.
Eighth seed Sindhu beat Japan's Yui Hashimoto, who had stunned top seed Saina Nehwal in the previous round, in straight games 21-16, 21-16 at Siri Fort Sports Complex here.
In men's singles, with as many as five Indians in the fray, only one could make it to the next round by the virtue of it being an all-Indian affair. Anand Pawar entered into the semis by beating Ajay Jayaram 21-16, 21-16 as HS Prannoy, who beat Taufik Hidayat in the earlier round, fell to world No 1 lee Chong Wei 21-14, 21-19. Sai Praneeth lost to sixth-seeded Japanese Kanichi Tago 21-17, 19-21, 21-11 and RMV Gurusaidutt was beaten by seventh-seeded Thai Boonsak Ponsana 21-12, 11-21, 21-12.
Earlier, Arundhati Pantawane took the first game against third seed Thai girl Ratchanok Intanon 21-14 but ended up losing the following two 7-21, 16-21 to reduce the Indian women presence in the tournament semis to just one.
The 17-year-old towering world No 15 Sindhu was, meanwhile, quick to take lead in the first game, going into break at 11-4. She kept Hashimoto struggling with her quick smashes and good placements to take a comfortable grip of the game at 19-9. And. That was when laxity took hold of her. Sindhu though differed later. "Even while I was leading, I was not over-confident. There have been many matches where I have been leading but conceded from there. So I was patient," she said, adding, "I am happy to have entered my first Super Series semis in India and second overall."
Sindhu, however, had ended up hitting the shuttle onto the net again and again to let her opponent take nine points in a row after that 19-9. With her lead having been cut down to 19-16, Sindhu took control again and engaged Hashimoto in a couple of long rallies that the former won to take the game.
The following game though saw Sindhu getting a bit tired, making the spectators increase their level of cheering to give her that extra strength, she kept her errors to a minimum possible throughout. That worked well for her as Hashimoto could not take points off her in the beginning and towards the end of the game the visiting shuttler ended up losing the cause due to some unforced errors. Till 14-14 Sindhu and Hashimoto were not letting each other take more than two or three points' lead. The Indian then took three points in a row to give her rival some anxious moments. After that Hashimoto was only able to take two points in between, off Sindhu's unforced errors.
Sindhu now meets world No 6 Ratchanok in the semis on Saturday as second seed Juliane Schenk of Germany beat fifth seed Korean Yeon Ju Bae 21-17, 21-13 to set up the clash with Indonesia's Aprilla Yuswandari, who beat Nichaon Jindapon of Thailand 18-21, 21-19, 21-2.
The following match started with a high level of expectation as Prannoy had created huge hype with his shock defeat of former Olympic and world champ Taufik of Indonesia a day before.
The spectators' expectations were though a bit unjustified as it was reigning world No 1 opposite him now. The 20-year-old Indian did pose enough challenge to make it worth it though ended up going down 14-21, 19-21.
Prannoy started strongly into the match, keeping it close till 4-3 in his favour, but Wei broke loose on him and raced away with eight points to stamp his authority. At 9-19, Prannoy did take five points, but his effort wasn't enough as Wei closed the game by taking two points easily.
The second game rekindled hopes of an upset as Prannoy managed to make the score read 18-13 in his favour after putting up a fight. It was then that Wei chose to showcase his skills and superior reflexes and took no time in leaving the Indian clueless on the turf. He took four points in a flash, gave away one to Prannoy and then made the latter hit the next five either out or onto the net to set up a semifinal clash with Ponsana. Anand takes on Tago in the other semifinal.
"I could have played another game with him had I won two-three more points (in the second game)," Prannoy said, adding that he was "a bit more nervous today". "I should have played more to the centre of the court when I was leading 18-13."
Wei, meanwhile, was all praises for Prannoy to have put up a fight. "He played very well today, especially the second game. He attacked very well," said the Malaysian, who married last year, and has brought his son here, hence "trying very hard to win every match."