Dubai: India’s Kidambi Srikanth bowed out while compatriot P.V. Sindhu assured herself a semi-final spot even as the top-ranked men and women’s singles players finished the day in contrasting style at the end of the second day of the BWF Dubai World Superseries Finals at the Hamdan Sports Complex on Thursday.
While top women’s player Akane Yamaguchi of Japan drifted away with her a second win in as many days with a 21-14, 13-21, 21-8 result to leave China’s He Bingjiao winless, men’s top player Son Wan Ho of South Korea tumbled to his first defeat following a 21-15, 13-21, 21-16 loss to sixth-ranked Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong.
Joining Son on the losing side was defending champion Viktor Axelsen as he went down to China’s third-ranked player Shi Yuqui and India’s lone hope in the men’s singles bowed out following Srikanth’s second consecutive loss to Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen 21-18, 21-18 in just 43 minutes.
The 21-year-old Shi, whose best this year was a runner-up spot at he Yonex All England Open, matched his more illustrious opponent and defending Dubai champion to win in three tough games 13-21, 21-18, 21-17 in an hour and 13 minutes to keep his hopes alive for a spot in the last four.
But it was the popular Sindhu giving fans a lot to cheer about as she disposed off Sato Sayaka 21-13, 21-12 to assured herself of a spot in Saturday’s semi-finals with one more round-robin match [against Akane] still remaining. Sindhu was always in control, never allowing her Japanese opponent too much space and liberty.
“The crucial thing was to keep my focus and implement the strategy that we had discussed coming into the match,” Sindhu told media later.
“One more match against Akane without any pressure, and then it will be the semi-finals. That’s one more day away, so pointless thinking about it now,” she added.
Her opponent on Friday will be Akane, whose second Group A win came at the cost of He Bingjiao – who had lost her opener against Sindhu on Wednesday. The 20-year-old Japanese girl started off with right intent. But after taking the first game 21-14, she lost a bit of her focus and that was enough for Bingjiao to come right back and win the second 21-13.
However, in the third the Japanese played a near-perfect game to wrap up the match 21-8 and become the first player on the day to seal a spot for Saturday’s semi-finals with a match still in hand against Sindhu on Friday.
Son, who got a day off on Wednesday following the late withdrawal of China’s Chen Long, looked a bit rusty as Angus fought his way to the first game 21-15. Son was off to a quick start in the second as he led 5-3 and then 16-11 to eventually win it 21-13.
The third game was closely-contested till Angus pulled away 11-8, only to be caught up by the 2017 Glasgow World Championships bronze medallist at 15-15. But, the 23-year-old from Hong Kong came up with some fine strokes to finish it off 21-16 in exactly 80 minutes to register his first win and his hopes alive for a spot in the semi-finals.
But before that he will have to battle Malaysian legend Lee Chong Wei in his final round-robin match on Friday. “It is very exciting for me to win a match in such a tough group. And now that my target has been accomplished, I can shift my focus to booking a place in semi-finals,” Angus told media.
“I am so happy to make this step as both of us were running out of stamina towards the end. But, I think I was more determined and wanted to push myself to get the win. I kept telling myself that I have to stay determined and focused. Hope I can continue like this against Lee Chong Wei,” he added.
