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 Dubai Super Series Final, here yesterday. Sindhu, 22
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 Dubai Super Series Final, here yesterday. Sindhu, 22, 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.
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K Srikanth
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 today. 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 to win the first set.
India's PV Sindhu
In the second game, Bingjiao surged to 4-0 lead early on before Sindhu drew parity at 7-7 but the Chinese turned the tables and sealed the following set. In the decider, Bingjiao led 4-2 initially but Sindhu clawed back at 5-5. The Indian soon started controlling the rallies and eventually won the thriller. In the men's singles match, Srikanth seemed of-colour as Axelsen towered over the Indian with his better agility and placement. As the defending champion outclassed the India to win the tie.
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