A day after being informed of her getting the Padma Shri, P.V. Sindhu celebrated by entering the semifinals of the Syed Modi International India Masters badminton tournament here, fighting back from a game down to beat Thai sixth seed Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 8-21, 21-11, 21-14 in 49 minutes.
This was the first real challenge for the third-seed Sindhu, who struggled in the first game. Her shots were wayward; she hardly moved on court and appeared to have little control on the length of her strokes.
“I am happy I won but not the way I did. I made a lot of unforced errors in the first game and that made me a bit nervous at the beginning of the second. But Gopi sir kept telling me I should only concentrate on getting the points and not worry about the game. Once I took lead, I was more confident,” Sindhu said.
She improved her placing, changed her serve, tossed the shuttle higher and increased the pace of the game to rattle Porntip, who fell apart in the third game. Sindhu's reward would be a semifinal clash against World Champion Carolina Marin, who beat Chochuwong Pornpawee 21-11, 21-13.
World no. 3 Saina Nehwal had an easy outing against compatriot Arundhati Pantawane, winning 21-18, 21-17. Pantawane was unable to break Saina’s control. Saina would next play Thailand’s Nichaon Jindapon, who struggled past P.C. Thulasi 21-16, 20-22, 21-12.
Among the men, three of the four spots in the semifinals were filled by Indians — P. Kashyap, H.S. Prannoy and B. Srikanth — with second seed Dane Viktor Axelsen being the lone outsider.
Major upsets But the major upsets were in the doubles section. Unseeded Manu Attri and K. Maneesha beat seventh seed Aik Quan Tan and Meng Yean Lee of Malaysia, before Attri combined with B. Sumeeth Reddy to down second seed Danish pair of Mads Conrad-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding.
The results (all quarterfinals):
Men: Singles: 3-Parupalli Kashyap bt 10-Zi Liang Derek Wong (Sin) 21-18, 21-9; 1-K. Srikanth bt 5-Wei Feng Chong (Mas) 17-21, 21-12 Ret.; 2-Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt 6-B. Sai Praneeth 15-21, 21-17, 21-16; 4-H.S. Prannoy bt 8-R.M. . Gurusaidutt 21-18, 21-19.
Doubles: 1-Mathias Boe & Carsten Mogensen (Den) bt Arun George & T. Hema Nagendra Babu 21-13, 21-8; 6-Pranaav Chopra & Akshay Dewalkar bt Puavaranukroh Dechapol & Ketlen Kittinupong (Tha) 21-16, 19-21, 21-15; 5-Manu Attri & B. Sumeeth Reddy bt 2-Mads Conrad-Petersen & Mads Pieler Kolding (Den) 21-18, 4-21, 24-22; 4-Vladimir Ivanov & Ivan Sozonov (Rus) bt K. Nandagopal & Arjun Kumar Reddy 21-9, 21-14.
Women: Singles: 1-Saina Nehwal bt Arundhati Pantawane 21-18, 21-17; 3-P.V. Sindhu bt 6-Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (Tha) 8-21, 21-11, 21-14; 4-Nichaon Jindapon (Tha) bt 8-P.C. Thulasi 21-16, 20-22, 21-12; 2-Carolina Marin (Esp) bt Chochuwong Pornpawee (Tha) 21-11, 21-13.
Doubles: 1-Vivian Kah Mun Hoo & Khe Wei Woon (Mas) bt Sanyogita Ghorpade & Arathi Sara Sunil 21-12, 21-16; 4-Amelia Alicia Anscelly & Fie Cho Soong (Mas) bt Yin Loo Lim & Meng Yean Lee (MAS) 21-15, 21-13; 3-Puttita Supajirakul & Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) bt Yu Yan Vanessa Neo & Shinta Mulia Sari (Sin) 21-14, 20-22, 21-17; 2-Jwala Gutta & Ashwini Ponnappa bt Jamuna Rani Rachapalli & Leela Lakshmi Rachapalli 21-6, 21-5.
Mixed doubles: 1-Riky Widianto & Puspita Richi Dili (Ina) bt 8-Wong Fai Yin & Mei Kuan Chow (Mas) 17-21, 21-18, 21-17; Manu Attri & K. Maneesha bt 7-Aik Quan Tan & Meng Yean Lee (Mas) 23-21, 10-21, 21-10; 3-Evgenij Dremin & Evgenia Dimova (Rus) bt V. Gangadhara Rao & D. Sudha Kalyani 21-6, 21-9; 4-Peng Soon Chan & Pei Jing Lai (Mas) bt Chayut Triyachart & Shinta Mulia Sari (Sin) 21-17, 21-17.
