Sindhu reaches Indonesia final with 21-19, 21-10 win over Chen

Jakarta, July 20 (IANS): PV Sindhu beat China’s Chen Yu Fei 21-19, 21-10 to reach the final of the Indonesian Open in Jakarta on Saturday. She will now face Japanese fourth seed Akane Yamaguchi in the final on Sunday. Both players will be playing for their first ever Super 1000 title.

Sindhu had reached the semis after flattening Japanese number three seed Nozomi Okuhara 21-14, 21-7 while Chen beat USA’s Beiwen Zhang 21-14, 17-21, 21-16 in her quarter final match.

The semi-final tie between the two players lasted 46 minutes involving two games that stood in stark contrast to each other. While the first game was a close affair, the second was a stroll for Sindhu.

Sindhu was trailing 4-8 in the first game before winning five consecutive points to take the lead. At the first interval, she led the game 11-10. Chen then built a lead again but Sindhu fought back from 18-14 and won another five points in a row. She went on to win the game 21-19.

Sindhu lost the first four points of the second game but once she adjusted to the change in drift, the Indian raced to a 9-5 lead. At the interval, she was leading 11-8 and she extended that lead to 17-8 before Chen could get another point. The final score of 21-10 was only a confirmation of Sindhu’s dominance.