NI Bureau
Making her return to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour after a knee injury sidelined her for four months last year, Sindhu demonstrated her resilience on the court. She recently made a successful comeback, clinching the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Malaysia with the women’s team, according to Olympics.com.
Facing a tough challenge from Michelle, who was also returning from injury, Sindhu initially struggled, dropping the first game. She found herself trailing 6-13 in the second game before staging a comeback to force a decider. Sindhu eventually sealed a hard-fought victory in the decider, securing her place in the pre-quarterfinals.
Reflecting on her win, Sindhu commented, “I am happy to come out on the winning side because it was a tough match where either player could have won. I had to focus on one point at a time, stay patient, and keep pushing forward.”
Regarding the venue, which will host the Olympic badminton matches this year, Sindhu expressed her satisfaction with the atmosphere and crowd, acknowledging the importance of competing there before the Olympics.
Sindhu’s next challenge will be against USA’s Beiwen Zhang in the round of 16. She previously faced Zhang in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open last year, resulting in a loss for the Indian player.
In the men’s singles competition, Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the pre-quarterfinals with a hard-fought victory over Chou Tien-chen from Chinese Taipei, winning 21-15, 20-22, 21-8. Srikanth, currently ranked 24th in the world, secured his third win over Chou in seven matches.
However, HS Prannoy fell short against China’s Lu Guang Zu, the 17th-ranked player in the world, losing 21-17, 21-17 and missing out on a spot in the pre-quarterfinals. Srikanth will now face China’s Guang Zu in the pre-quarterfinals after his victory over Chou.
Prateeksha Thakur
