WORLDS 2015 R16 – India’s ladies flawless

P. V. Sindhu created the first big sensation in women’s singles today when she beat Olympic champion Li Xuerui then Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa beat the #8 seeds to reach the 2015 World Badminton Championship quarter-finals.

By Don Hearn, Badzine Correspondent live in Jakarta.
Video: Loïc Meuriot.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

It can no longer really be a surprise to see Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (pictured) of India pulling off an upset of a top player, least of all at the BWF World Championships.  In 2013, she ousted Wang Yihan and Wang Shixian and last year, the latter, plus Bae Yeon Ju went down to the then-teenaged Sindhu.

This year, in the first World Championship of her twenties, Sindhu was back at it again.  She took Olympic gold medallist Li Xuerui (pictured below) in three games to reach the quarter-finals of the Worlds in Jakarta.

“I’m really happy,” said Sindhu after her match.  “I think it was a good win today.  It was an equal-equal game and at the last, I just took it.  After the injury, getting back and beating a really good player, that makes me very happy.

“The foot injury started from February and it took four months almost.  Now I’ve got back and I’ve got back rhythm so I’ll just go on.

“Even in the third game it was still equal, it was 14-all and the shuttles were a little fast and going out but it was the same for both of us so I just needed to play a control game.

“Gopi-sir was saying just be focussed because it was 20-16 and then tap, tap and then I hit it out and Gopi-sir said just be focussed – it’s just one point and the game is not over yet.

Asked about the secret to her propensity for big performances at the Worlds, Sindhu laughed and said, “I don’t know but I hope to do better than the last one because the last two times, I have got a bronze medal and this time I would like to make it much better.”

Not long afterward, her compatriots Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa (pictured) got into the upset game.  They saw off Japan’s Miyuki Maeda and Reika Kakiiwa in three games to book a spot in the quarter-finals, in a half of the draw that is now without a Chinese pairing.

“For us, we knew the court conditions – the shuttles are pretty dicey – so for us, our strategy was to take the first game, no matter what,” said Jwala Gutta after the win.  “They are higher seeds than us so we knew that once we took the first game, they would be under pressure so that’s what we did.”

The pair spoke some words on what is behind the recent successes Indian shuttlers in doubles but explained that the big picture was secondary to their own performance this week, as Ashwini said, “For us, our aim is to do well because at the end of the day, that’s what we want to do, despite everything else and then have that to do the talking.”

Watch the complete post-match interview with Jwala and Ashwini below: