Sindhu makes impressive return from injury in Malaysia

Dubai: Indian badminton star PV Sindhu marked a strong comeback from injury with a confident win over Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun in the women’s singles opening round of the Malaysia Open Super 1000 on Wednesday, sealing a spot in the pre-quarter-finals.

The 30-year-old former world champion, who had pulled out of all BWF World Tour events in October last year to focus on recovering from a foot injury, defeated Sung 21-14, 22-20 in a match lasting just over 51 minutes.

In contrast, India suffered a setback in mixed doubles as world No. 17 pair Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto exited in the round of 32. They went down 15-21, 21-18, 15-21 to the lower-ranked American combination of Presley Smith and Jennie Gai after a hard-fought 56-minute encounter.

Currently ranked 18th, Sindhu looked comfortable on court as she beat Sung for the second time, extending her head-to-head record to 2-0. The victory set up a round-of-16 clash with world No. 9 Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan. Miyazaki progressed after her South Korean opponent, world No. 10 Sim Yu Jin, retired due to injury while trailing 21-19, 1-2.

Sindhu dominated the opening game, racing to a 6-2 lead and maintaining control throughout. The second game, however, proved far more competitive. Sindhu found herself down 4-11 at one stage before fighting back to draw level at 13-all.

Sung, ranked lower but relentless, surged ahead again to lead 17-14. Sindhu responded with characteristic resilience, reeling off points to make it 17-all. With the score tied at 20-20, the Indian star held her nerve to claim the final two points and close out the match.

Later in the day, India’s top men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy are scheduled to play their opening-round match against the Chinese Taipei duo of Yang Po-Hsuan and Lee Jhe-Hue.