WORLDS 2013 QF – Sindhu keeps beating China’s best

Young P. V. Sindhu continues her march at the Wang Lao Ji BWF World Badminton Championships, following up her win over Wang Yihan with a straight-game drubbing of former world #1 Wang Shixian.

By Don Hearn, Badzine Correspondent live in Guangzhou.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

Not only has Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (pictured) beaten China’s three top women’s singles shuttlers, but she is also now undefeated against one of them.  After evening her head-to-head record with the might Wang Yihan yesterday, today in Guangzhou’s Tianhe Gymnasium, she logged her second straight victory over Wang Shixian.

Although Sindhu’s margin for victory wasn’t huge, the struggle was marked by the fact that she never ceded the lead to her more experienced opponent, apart from 2-1 in the second game.

“Sindhu has been playing well for a while now,” said Wang Shixian (pictured below).  “It isn’t as if she is just suddenly beating Chinese players.  My coaches and I did a lot of research on her as preparation.

“She has long legs and arms and that makes her difficult to deal with but I just did not play with enough patience today.  I was trailing throughout most of the match and I didn’t remain patient.”

Sindhu was, predictably, beaming in her post-match interview and looked particularly flattered when one journalist described her as being ‘famous’ in China.

“I’m very thankful to my parents,” said Sindhu.  “My parents were both professional volleyball players and after choosing badminton, they have supported me a lot.

“They used to take me to and from the Gopichand Academy.  It was about 56km each way and it was really tough for four and a half years and then recently we have shifted nearby to the academy.  So I’m really very thankful because they shifted the house for my sake and they both work and must now travel very far to go to work.

“Playing with the senior players, I think it is a very good experience and I don’t think I’m playing with pressure.  If I lose, I can just learn more and if I win, it will be very good for me.  So I think I am without pressure and I can just play my game and just be free.”

Interestingly, unlike the three Chinese players who came to Guangzhou – including top seed Li Xuerui – it is the other two semi-finalists against whom Sindhu is still winless.  One of these is, of course, her semi-final opponent Ratchanok Intanon (pictured), who was on the ropes before coming through her quarter-final against the feisty Carolina Marin of Spain.

Despite being two of the favourites for the World Junior title this year in their last year of eligibility, the have never actually met in a junior event but Ratchanok did get the better of the lanky Indian at home at the Yonex Sunrise India Open Superseries this past April.

Click here for complete quarter-final results