Singapore Open badminton: India’s PV Sindhu makes semi-finals; Saina Nehwal crashes out

Indian badminton player PV Sindhu came from behind to beat China’s Han Yue in the quarter-finals of the Singapore Open 2022 on Friday.

PV Sindhu, seventh in the badminton world rankings, rallied to beat world No. 19 Han Yue 17-21, 21-11, 21-19 to set up a semi-final clash against Japan’s Saena Kawakami, who upset Thai shuttler Pornpawee Chochuwong, the ninth seed, in her final eight clash.

The Indian shuttler made a slow start and trailed her Chinese opponent 14-11 before scoring four back-to-back points to take the lead. Han Yue, however, continued to trouble PV Sindhu with her deft touches and went on to win the first game.

The second game, too, started as a tight affair with PV Sindhu going on the offensive but Han Yue staying on her coat-tails. But with the score at 14-11, the two-time Olympic medallist stepped up and took the next seven points to force a decider.

In the all-important third game, Han Yue, who had ousted PV Sindhu’s fellow Indian badminton player Ashmita Chaliha in the second round, raced to a 14-9 lead and put the Indian ace on the backfoot. The Indian ace, however, dug deep and turned the tables with a flurry of seven points and proceeded to wrap up the match in one hour and two minutes.

London 2012 bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, meanwhile, failed to join compatriot PV Sindhu in the semi-finals after going down to Japan’s Aya Ohori 13-21, 21-15, 22-20 in a closely-fought match. Saina conceded a 19-16 lead in the decider to crash out of the BWF Super 500 tournament.

In men's singles, HS Prannoy won the first game against Japan's Kodai Naraoka but couldn't make the advantage count as he lost 21-12, 14-21, 18-21 in just over an hour.

Men's doubles pair MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila's Singapore Open 2022 campaign also came to a close after losing their final eight clash 21-10, 18-21, 17-21 against Indonesian second seeds Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.