Dubai World Superseries Finals 2017: PV Sindhu holds off He Bingjiao; reality check for Kidambi Srikanth

On a day of mixed fortunes for Indian contenders for the singles titles at the year-ending Dubai World Superseries Finals PV Sindhu just about managed to hold off a strong challenge from Chinese left-hander He Bingjiao while compatriot Kidambi Srikanth was mercilessly cut down to size by the reigning world champion from Denmark Viktor Axelsen.After an outstanding start to the opening game of her campaign in the 1 million prize money tournament Sindhu struggled to read the bewildering mix of slices half-smashes and full-blooded smashes doled out by her rival. But she managed to withstand the barrage and run out a 21-11 16-21 21-18 winner in an absorbing Group A contest that lasted four minutes over the hour mark.Srikanth made an equally bright start to his opening Group B joust against the towering 6 4 Axelsen but faded away in the face of a sustained counter-attack by the 23-year-old defending champion and caved in by a 13-21 17-21 scoreline in just 37 minutes much to the disappointment of a sizeable Indian contingent in the stands of the Sheikh Hamdan Indoor Stadium.PV Sindhu in action against He Bingjiao at the Dubai World Superseries Finals on Wednesday. APSindhu heaved a huge sigh of relief after closing out her nervy duel against He (pronounced Huh ) posting her second successive triumph against the Chinese southpaw and locking their head-to-head series at 5-5. The Indian s victory also snapped the pattern of their previous eight encounters which had featured alternate wins by the two players.Going by the storming start Sindhu made on Wednesday it appeared as if she was keen to get the match over with in under the half-hour mark. Winning the toss and choosing the side from which she was able to play against the stadium drift the Indian exploited that advantage to the hilt as her opponent seemed slow and subdued and made a string of unforced errors by hitting into the sidelines. Once Sindhu went into a slim 3-2 lead she never relinquished that advantage and powered to 19-8 with some sprightly footwork and aggressive smashing.But the stocky Chinese left-hander shook off the blues in the second half of the second stanza and began moving a half-step faster to pile on the pressure on the lanky Indian. There was nothing to separate them at 12-all but then Sindhu fell prey to nerves and allowed her opponent to pull away and restore parity.She continued her rampaging form at the start of the decider and pulled away to 5-2 before the Indian egged on from the sidelines by coach Pullela Gopichand got over her initial lethargy to level at 6-all and then grab the initiative to go up 11-6. She appeared to be in full control at 13-8 only to find her lead whittled down to a single point at 17-16.At 20-16 she suffered from her familiar game-closing blues and the nerveless Chinese pulled two points back with excellent overhead sideline smashes. A desperate Sindhu it must be said was distinctly lucky to see her return off a tight He dribble being netted by the Chinese as she was a fraction of a second slow to tap it. I always have trouble against Bingjiao and I am so relieved to have got past her a modest Sindhu said later. After winning the first game so easily I did not expect her to mount such a strong challenge in the second. The third game could have gone either way but I managed to stay ahead most of the way and was lucky she missed that last tap at the net. I need to play better against Sayaka Sato tomorrow. Much had been expected of Srikanth s clash against Axelsen with whom he was locked at 3-3 in career meetings but against whom he had snapped a three-match losing streak by beating his Danish rival in three games in their most recent clash at the Denmark Open Superseries Premier quarter-final in Axelsen s home town of Odense in late-October this year.The 24-year-old Indian was at his best when he pocketed eight straight points to overturn a 1-4 deficit into a 9-4 advantage. His court movements were sprightly and he cleverly varied the pace angle and direction of his overhead shots to repeatedly catch Axelsen on the wrong foot.However as the world champion got used to the Indian s strategy he was able to put up a resolute defence blocking Srikanth s best smashes and using his height to launch a swift counter-attack. The Indian often failed to read the direction of Axelsen s overhead shots and was overhauled immediately after the mid-game interval.Once he grabbed the lead there was no stopping Axelsen; and one could see that the momentum of the match changed when the Dane went into a 13-12 lead. A five-point burst punctuated by a couple of unforced errors from Srikanth took Axelsen to 18-12 and he closed out the opening game for the loss of a further point.The second stanza saw the Dane lead from start to finish; and though Srikanth came within striking distance several times he simply could not wrest the lead. Coincidentally the score was 13-12 when Axelsen stepped on the gas pedal and took a four-point lead at 16-12 an advantage that the Indian failed to reduce.In the aftermath of his patchy performance a subdued Srikanth acknowledged that the six-week break he had taken after the Indian Nationals in order to heal a strained thigh had possibly put the brakes on his rampaging run during the 2017 international season when he had been the most successful player bagging four Superseries titles and finishing runner-up in a fifth championship. I have to improve a lot if I hope to progress in this tournament the Andhra Pradesh native admitted. If I continue playing like this I don t think I can go forward. I started well but then I made simple mistakes and I can t afford that at the highest level. Viktor played well in the crucial moments when it mattered. He played aggressively and his attack was bang on target for most of the match. Axelsen agreed with the Indian that it had been his aggressive play that had allowed him to slay his redoubtable antagonist: Today my attack was really good. It was important that I didn t give too many chances away. I started a bit slow but I came out on top and that is what s important. To win in straight games was really important. There are tough matches all the way and you have to play well every day. The Indian next runs into Chinese Taipei s Chou Tien Chen against whom he is deadlocked 1-1 in career head-to-heads but whom he has not encountered on the circuit since losing to the Taiwanese in this very tournament in 2015. Having shown substantial improvement since then Srikanth is favoured to beat Chou who suffered a close 19-21 17-21 reverse at the hands of China s Shi Yuqi on Wednesday.There was some consternation in Group A of the men s singles when two-time former world champion and 2016 Olympic gold medalist Chen Long of China failed to turn up for his opening match against South Korea s Son Wan Ho and conceded walk-overs to the other three players in his group.Women s coach Gong Zhichao who had bagged the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and is leading the Chinese delegation in Dubai revealed that Chen had failed to recover from a long-standing wrist injury that had got aggravated during practice for this event.Chen s absence makes the task of the other players in the group that much easier; and Korean Son Wan Ho and Malaysia s Lee Chong Wei are now heavily favoured to go through to the play-off semi-finals over the weekend. Lee claimed a facile 21-14 21-13 victory on Wednesday over Hong Kong s Ng Ka Long Angus who is slated to clash with Son on Thursday. DUBAI: Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu made a positive start to her campaign in women s singles but Kidambi Srikanth suffered a straight game loss on the opening day of the USD 1 million Dubai Super Series Final here today. The 22-year-old Sindhu who had a 4-5 head-to-head record against World No. 9 He Bingjiao dished out a gritty performance to overcome the left-handed Chinese 21-11 16-21 21-18 in a Group A match that lasted an hour and four minutes. World No. 4 Srikanth however couldn t bring out his top game as he suffered a 13-21 17-21 loss to World No. 1 and defending champion Viktor Axelsen in a Group B men s singles match that lasted just 38 minutes. Sindhu faces Japan s Sayaka Sato next while Srikanth will take on Chinese Taipei s Chou Tien Chen tomorrow. Playing an opponent she has faced twice this year Sindhu showed good defence as she engaged her rival in rallies by putting the shuttle in awkward positions and tried to close out the points. Sindhu showed immaculate defence to counter Bingjiao s strokes and pushed the Chinese to commit errors. The Indian led 10-6 when the Chinese produced a cross court return but she hit the net next as Sindhu held the advantage at the break. Sindhu continued to dominate the proceedings after the break moving 17-8 ahead when Bingjiao committed a judgemental error at the baseline. Sindhu grabbed nine game points when her opponent hit long and closed out the game with a cross court smash. In the second game Bingjiao surged to 4-0 lead early on before Sindhu drew parity at 7-7 but the Chinese once again moved ahead to 10-7 when the Indian hit wide. Bingjiao eventually held a slender 11-9 lead at the break. After the breather Sindhu produced a perfect placement and then Bingjiao hit out twice as Sindhu enjoyed a 12-11 lead. The Chinese once again turned the tables leading 14-12 and won a video referral and produced a couple of superb drop shots to make it 17-13 in her favour. A whipping return at the forecourt gave a point to Sindhu but the Chinese managed to soon reach 20-15. The Indian saved one game point before the Chinese sealed it with another delectable return. In the decider Bingjiao led 4-2 initially but Sindhu clawed back at 5-5 when the Chinese sent the shuttle to the nets. The Indian soon started controlling the rallies and eventually grabbed a 11-7 lead at the break. Bingjiao continued to breath down Sindhu s neck with her attacking game narrowing the deficit to 16-17 after the interval. A good judgement at the baseline after another fierce rally took Sindhu to 18-16. The Indian then earned four match points with Bingjiao going wide and long. Bingjiao saved two match points before Sindhu sealed the issue when Bingjiao faltered at the net again. In the men s singles match Srikanth seemed of-colour as Axelsen towered over the Indian with his better agility and placement. Srikanth who had snapped a three-match losing streak against the Dane with a win at the quarterfinals of Denmark Open dominated the proceedings early on and lead 8-4 at one stage. He put Axelsen out of position with his returns to lead 10-7. However an attacking return by Axelsen followed by a wide shot by Srikanth helped the Dane to narrow the gap to 9- 10 before Srikanth entered the break with two-point advantage when his rival found the net. After the breather Axelsen came out with all guns blazing even as errors crept in Srikanth s game. His crosscourt returns low lifts at the net -- all went wide and long. He also committed a fault when his racquet touched the net during a return. With Srikanth failing to curb his errors Axelsen zoomed to massive seven game points with a whipping smash. Axelsen then produced an acute angled return to leave the Indian stranded. Axelsen continued to rule the roost in the second game surging to 5-1 lead at one stage. Srikanth tried to break his opponent s rhythm but the Dane managed to grab a five-point advantage at the interval. After the break Srikanth produced an incredible return diving to his right and then won another point when Axelsen hit wide. Then the Indian managed to narrow the gap to 12-14 when Axelsen unleashed another big smash to grab a point. A slice gone wide was cancelled by a superb follow-up shot by Srikanth who produced an accurate return at the baseline. But once again errors came back to haunt Srikanth as Axelsen grabbed the match point with a superb placement and then sealed the match when the Indian hit the net. DUBAI: Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu made a positive start to her campaign in women s singles but Kidambi Srikanth suffered a straight game loss on the opening day of the 1 million Dubai Super Series Finals here on Wednesday. The 22-year-old Sindhu who had a 4-5 head-to-head record against World No. 9 He Bingjiao dished out a gritty performance to overcome the left-handed Chinese 21-11 16-21 21-18 in a Group A match that lasted an hour and four minutes. READ ALSO: Sindhu wants to end season with a title at Dubai Finals World No. 4 Srikanth however couldn t bring out his top game as he suffered a 13-21 17-21 loss to World No. 1 and defending champion Viktor Axelsen in a Group B men s singles match that lasted just 38 minutes. Sindhu faces Japan s Sayaka Sato next while Srikanth will take on Chinese Taipei s Chou Tien Chen on Thursday. Playing an opponent she has faced twice this year Sindhu showed good defence as she engaged her rival in rallies by putting the shuttle in awkward positions and tried to close out the points. READ ALSO: Winning Superseries Finals bigger priority than year-end ranking says Srikanth Sindhu showed immaculate defence to counter Bingjiao s strokes and pushed the Chinese to commit errors. The Indian led 10-6 when the Chinese produced a cross court return but she hit the net next as Sindhu held the advantage at the break. Sindhu continued to dominate the proceedings after the break moving 17-8 ahead when Bingjiao committed a judgemental error at the baseline. Sindhu grabbed nine game points when her opponent hit long and closed out the game with a cross court smash. In the second game Bingjiao surged to 4-0 lead early on before Sindhu drew parity at 7-7 but the Chinese once again moved ahead to 10-7 when the Indian hit wide. Bingjiao eventually held a slender 11-9 lead at the break. After the breather Sindhu produced a perfect placement and then Bingjiao hit out twice as Sindhu enjoyed a 12-11 lead. The Chinese once again turned the tables leading 14-12 and won a video referral and produced a couple of superb drop shots to make it 17-13 in her favour. A whipping return at the forecourt gave a point to Sindhu but the Chinese managed to soon reach 20-15. The Indian saved one game point before the Chinese sealed it with another delectable return. In the decider Bingjiao led 4-2 initially but Sindhu clawed back at 5-5 when the Chinese sent the shuttle to the nets. The Indian soon started controlling the rallies and eventually grabbed a 11-7 lead at the break. Bingjiao continued to breath down Sindhu s neck with her attacking game narrowing the deficit to 16-17 after the interval. A good judgement at the baseline after another fierce rally took Sindhu to 18-16. The Indian then earned four match points with Bingjiao going wide and long. Bingjiao saved two match points before Sindhu sealed the issue when Bingjiao faltered at the net again. In the men s singles match Srikanth seemed of-colour as Axelsen towered over the Indian with his better agility and placement. Srikanth who had snapped a three-match losing streak against the Dane with a win at the quarterfinals of Denmark Open dominated the proceedings early on and lead 8-4 at one stage. He put Axelsen out of position with his returns to lead 10-7. However an attacking return by Axelsen followed by a wide shot by Srikanth helped the Dane to narrow the gap to 9-10 before Srikanth entered the break with two-point advantage when his rival found the net. After the breather Axelsen came out with all guns blazing even as errors crept in Srikanth s game. His crosscourt returns low lifts at the net -- all went wide and long. He also committed a fault when his racquet touched the net during a return. With Srikanth failing to curb his errors Axelsen zoomed to massive seven game points with a whipping smash. Axelsen then produced an acute angled return to leave the Indian stranded. Axelsen continued to rule the roost in the second game surging to 5-1 lead at one stage. Srikanth tried to break his opponent s rhythm but the Dane managed to grab a five-point advantage at the interval. After the break Srikanth produced an incredible return diving to his right and then won another point when Axelsen hit wide. Then the Indian managed to narrow the gap to 12-14 when Axelsen unleashed another big smash to grab a point. A slice gone wide was cancelled by a superb follow-up shot by Srikanth who produced an accurate return at the baseline. But once again errors came back to haunt Srikanth as Axelsen grabbed the match point with a superb placement and then sealed the match when the Indian hit the net. DUBAI: She has a six-pack body and even most men can t match her fitness exclaimed one of India s top men s singles shuttler when asked about Tai Tzu Ying. The 23-year-old Chinese Taipei girl won five titles this year and is the No.1 in women s singles since December 2016. The most consistent shuttler Tai Tzu will be representing Ahmedabad Smash Masters in the Premier Badminton League this year. Indian girls PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal struggle to get past Tai Tzu. While Saina has a 5-8 win-loss record Sindhu s is 3-8. Since 2013 March Saina failed to defeat Tai Tzu and lost six times. After beating Tai Tzu at the Olympics in August 2016 Sindhu lost to her four times consecutively. Despite having such a great record against Indians Tai Tzu says that playing against Sindhu is very tough. She is quite tall and strong. I always find it very tough to play against her she is very fast on the court and packs her strokes with a lot of power Tai Tzu said about Sindhu. But the daughter of a firefighter knows how to calm down Sindhu. I make her move a lot on the court. I keep her busy by regularly hitting the shuttle to the corners she said. The 5 feet 4 inch girl has a unique playing style which many describe as unpredictable offensive and spontaneous. With a lot of disguises she has the ability to hit the shuttle from any part of the court. But the key to her success is the way she stays so relaxed even while executing or facing ferocious smashes. The Ahmedabad Smash Masters will be banking on her to pull off all the women s singles matches in the PBL. Tai who was not part of the first two editions of PBL is eagerly looking forward to the third edition which kicks off in Guwahati on December 23. I am delighted to join PBL as it has a number of great professional players. It s a very interesting league which will help in the development of badminton. I want to play well and give the best for my team she said. Tai Tzu says that training a lot and also luck helped her to win so many titles. There is nothing special that I did. But training a lot regularly helped. I also think I am quite lucky to win so many titles said Tai Tzu adding that her coach helps her with new ideas. My coach takes care of everything. He prepares a plan and gives me new ideas on how to tackle a particular player and the conditions added Tai who is the only fifth player in history to win five Super Series titles in a year. A patriot to the core Tai Tzu skipped the World Championships when she was in top form to play for the World university games. I have no regrets Worlds you can win next year. But university games were the biggest sporting event that my country had ever hosted. For me it is more important to be part of that she said. DUBAI: Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen are a successful pair on and off the court. The Danish women s doubles pair stunned many when they announced recently that they are in relationship for quite sometime. Having won many major titles at the international level the Danish girls revealed it all in a book a couple of months back. Understanding each other is the key to success in doubles and the Danes say that living together helped them to know each other well. We don t need to hide anything now. We are very happy about how people reacted to our relationship. We have only heard positive things from our colleagues. But for our European and Danish players it s like an old news. If people ask us how well you know each other? We say that we know each other well as we live together the duo said adding that they were in relationship since 2009. We were in relationship before we became a badminton pair. Many people asked us why we had to hide this issue. But we did not reveal it as our focus is to become a successful badminton team and not a women couple. We think this is the right time since we had won an Olympic medal and other titles. We want to be famous for what we have done on the court and not outside they added Christinna said that all the top players in the world want to be part of the Premier Badminton League. PBL is one good thing to happen for badminton. All the top players in the world want to be part of that league. It s quite interesting the auction moving from one city to another being part of a team etc. The setup is quite professional. Though we travel a lot and play in many countries PBL is one thing we look forward to. Even though our international schedule is tight Mathias (Boe) Viktor (Axelsen) and both of us want to be part of PBL Christinna said. The duo credits their success to practicing with boys. We became strong because we always practice with young boys. May be that helped us a lot to do well they said. In the third edition of PBL Christinna will play for Awadhe Warriors while Kamilla will be part of Ahmedabad Smash Masters. Srikanth Sindhu confident of doing well in Finals Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu are confident of doing well in the BWF Super Series Finals which kicks off at the Hamdan Sports Complex here on Wednesday. Only these top two shuttlers from India have qualified for the year-ending Finals. Both the shuttlers are placed in easy groups in the league stage. Srikanth is clubbed with World champion Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) Shi Yuqi (China) and Tien Chen Chou (Chinese Taipei). As two players qualify from each group Srikanth is expected to make it to the semifinals without much difficulty. I worked really hard for this tournament. I am confident of doing well said Srikanth who was adjudged as the Mr Best Dressed at the Awards function here on Monday. Tai Tzu Ying was the Miss Best Dressed. Sindhu also was in a comparatively easy pool along with Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) He Bingjiao (China) and Sayaka Sato (Japan). I think reaching the semifinals will not be a problem but I am not going to take it easy. Every match is very important Sindhu said.