PV Sindhu began her season against Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun for the second calendar year in a row. Returning to competition after a long injury layoff that had cut short her previous season, Sindhu entered the Malaysia Open Super 1000 in Kuala Lumpur with questions surrounding her match sharpness.
PV Sindhu Overcomes Slow Start March On
Those doubts surfaced early. Sung raced to a 7-1 lead, exploiting Sindhu’s tentative movement and flat exchanges to put the Indian on the defensive. The early signs pointed to rust, but they didn’t last long.
Sindhu gradually found her range, and once she did, the momentum shifted decisively. A grueling 22-shot rally at 8-4- won by Sung- proved to be a turning point of sorts. Despite losing the point, Sindhu’s movement and shot quality began to click. She bounced back with two winners showing her intent.
A pair of whipped forehand smashes down the line brought her level at 9-9. One of the clearest indicators of her rhythm returning was the round-the-head forehand crosscourt smash, a shot she executed with increasing authority to secure an 11-9 lead at the mid-game interval.
After the break, PV Sindhu’s dominance grew. She absorbed sustained pressure in defence before finishing rallies with precision, stretching her lead to 16-9 on the back of ten consecutive points. The opening game was sealed in style, with a beautifully disguised backhand drive that wrong-footed Sung and underlined Sindhu’s growing confidence, closing it out 21-13.
In the second game, Sung showed greater defensive discipline. A deft backhand at the net helped her edge ahead 3-1. Sindhu countered with a clever change of pace, mixing her power with sliced drops to move ahead 7-6.
The contest became far more even, with longer rallies and fewer outright openings. Sindhu led 11-8 at the interval, but Sung refused to fade, clawing her way back with improved shot selection and resilience to level the score at 15-15.
Also Read: Top 6 Richest Badminton Players In World
The point of the match followed- an exhausting rally filled with sharp crosscourt blocks and constant changes of direction- ending with a perfectly judged half-smash from Sindhu that floored her opponent and drew a rare, emphatic fist pump.
A reviewed call denied PV Sindhu what appeared to be a decisive winner, bringing the score to 19-19. She closed out the match on her second match point, sealing a hard-fought 22-20 win in 51 minutes, sending her to the Round of 16.
