PV Sindhu took a big step towards her first title of the year by surging into the semifinals of the Malaysia Masters with a hard-fought win over top seed Han Yue of China on Friday.
Sindhu, World No 15, recovered from a mid-game slump to outwit sixth-ranked Han 21-13, 14-21, 21-12 in a 55-minute last-eight battle to avenge her loss in their last meeting at the Asia badminton Championships in Ningbo last month.
Sindhu, a former world champion, will face one of Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani or Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the last-four stage.
In other results, Ashmita Chaliha’s fine run ended in the quarterfinals with a 10-21, 15-21 loss to sixth seed Zhang Yi Man of China.
Sindhu’s last title had come in 2022 at the Singapore Open. The two-time Olympic medallist gave a good account of herself during the match as she broke off from 3-3 in the opening game to take a 11-5 cushion at the break.
The Chinese shuttler slowly made her way to 13-16 but Sindhu reeled off the remaining five straight points to take the opening game.
Stung by the reversal, Han zoomed to a 5-0 lead after the change of sides. She continued to dominate the proceedings as Sindhu struggled. As a result, she jumped to a massive 15-2 advantage and despite some fightback from the Indian, Han comfortably took the match to the decider.
Sindhu gathered her composure in the third game to open up a massive 11-3 lead at the break, which proved decisive as Han just couldn’t bridge the gap.
