India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu is just one step away from achieving an elusive BWF World Championships gold medal after barging into her third consecutive final with a straight-game victory over All England champ Chen Yu Fei on Saturday.
Sindhu put up a pitch-perfect performance to outclass China’s W
orld No.3 Chen in sets of 21-7, 21-14 in a one-sided semifinal that lasted 40-minute. The only person now standing between the Olympic silver medallist and the yellow metal is Japan’s 2017 Winner Nozomi Okuhara. The epic clash will take place on Sunday at Basel, Switzerland.
If she wins, Sindhu will enter the record books for jointly being the most successful shuttler at the BWF World Championships alongside Chinese double Olympic shuttler Zhang Ning (1 G, 2 S, 2 B).
Having entered the game with a superior 5-3 head-to-head record over Chen, Sindhu quickly came down to business.
She has done it!! PV Sindhu emphatically beats World No. 3 Chen Yufei 21-7 21-14 to enter the finals of the BWF World Championships.
She is a step away from glory!! The coveted gold is in her sight. ??? @Pvsindhu1 #KreedOn #Badminton #PVSindhu #BWFWorldChampionships2019 pic.twitter.com/hsTn7Ldrp2— KreedOn (@kreedonworld) August 24, 2019
The Game
In a very clinical fashion, Sindhu started the game with angled returns that pushed Chen to the corners. While dominating the game, she also ensured that her rival was punished at any weak return from her opponent. As a result, the Indian entered the first break with an 11-3 lead.
The Chinese continued to find it challenging to cope up with Sindhu’s menacing pace and accuracy. Chen was missing the lines far too often, proving to be easy pickings for the Indian. Sindhu comfortably sealed the first game in her second attempt.
Chen started the second game on a better note as the shuttler was locked at 3-3 with Sindhu. However, the dreaded errors crept back soon, giving Sindhu a significant lead of 10-6. It felt as if Sindhu was anticipating the Chinese shuttler’s weakness in the backhand and exploiting it aptly. She lead Chen by 11-7 going into the break.
The last quarter was not as easy for Sindhu as Chen improved in her game. However, that didn’t mean that Sindhu was going to give way either! Her hard work paid off as Chen commenced committing a slew of unforced errors as Sindhu lead the contest 17-9 lead. The latter eventually grabbed the game with a tenacious cross-court smash.
