Manila: April 29 (IANS) Indian shuttlecock PV Sindhu secured at least one bronze medal at the 2022 Asian Badminton Championships after reaching the semi-finals with a victory over China’s He Bing Jiao in the women’s singles quarterfinals. , here on Friday .
Sindhu, a former world champion, defeated two-time world championship bronze medalist Jiao 21-9, 13-21, 21-19 to reach the semi-finals at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex.
The Indian quickly settled into the match and took an 11-2 lead at the first break of the opening game. Jiao, on the other hand, made a number of unforced errors as Sindhu finished the first game convincingly.
In the second game, World No.9 He Bing Jiao tightened her defense and came back strong after the scores were tied at 10. The Chinese midfielder won 11 of the next 14 points to stretch the match into the decider. .
Two-time Olympic medalist Sindhu put her experience to good use, racking up six straight points early in the third game. However, Sindhu conceded five points in a row before confusion over the scores brought the game to a halt. Jiao continued to mount attacks after the short break and even scored three points in a row despite being down 20-16. Sindhu, however, kept their composure to seize an early lead and book a place in the semi-finals.
World No.7 Sindhu entered the match losing 7-9 in head-to-head encounters, but it was her third consecutive victory over her Chinese rival. The last time the duo met was in the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal match which Sindhu won in consecutive games.
The 26-year-old Sindhu will now face World No.2 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, who knocked out World No.10 Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 9-21, 21-15, 21-17 in their quarter-final clash. end.
However, the men’s doubles pair of third-seeded Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lost 21-12, 14-21, 16-21 to fifth-seeded Aaron Chia and Massoh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in their quarterfinal clash, which lasted 53 minutes
The best Indian badminton players Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen were eliminated in the previous rounds.