Badminton
Nagraj Gollapudi in Birmingham 6y

Sindhu settles into attack mode after nervy start

Badminton

When PV Sindhu is winning, she is ruthless. And that is is exactly what she was for the second half of her first-round match at the All England Open on Wednesday against unseeded Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand, bouncing back from losing the first game to register a 20-22, 21-17, 21-9 victory.

Having stuttered in the first game where she gave up a 14-10 advantage, Sindhu played a more attacking style in the final two games, allowing Chochuwong no margin for error to capitalise on. It was when Sindhu was on the attack that she felt more settled, played more consistent and showed better temperament to brush off any unforced errors, which reduced as the clock ticked by.

In the final game, Sindhu took a swift 11-7 lead at the break and then allowed just two points to her opponent, including an unforced error on her part. "You just need to finish it off rather than just giving points and play an easy game," Sindhu told ESPN.

The Indian admitted that she allowed Chochuwong to get a foot in midway into the first game and the Thai pushed herself inside to win it. "At 14-10 I was just hitting along the sides and after two strokes I gave the point away. Next point I served into the net to make it 15-all. I was a bit nervous. Because it is the first match you actually take time to come into the match."

Thankfully, a former All England champion was present courtside to calm Sindhu and guide her. Pullella Gopichand, the India team head coach, asked Sindhu to focus on just keeping the shuttle in court. "He just said just play in the court. I was actually making unforced errors. After that it went on well."

One weak area that Chochuwong kept trying to take advantage of, was by pushing Sindhu deep initially and then bringing her to the net before finishing the point by hitting a crosscourt winner to the Indian's left side.

Sindhu said she was aware of her opponent's strategy and she eventually weeded out the issue. "She is also tall. She has good smashes and half smashes. Since my lifts (while retrieving from the net) were going out or going mid-court, she was comfortably smashing them. I realised I was getting myself in a bit of a trouble by hitting to the mid-court and by the time I came to the centre she was just hitting angles."

Sindhu is aware that other opponents are bound to deploy a similar strategy but she has a counter-strategy in mind. "The lift should be much more longer and to the back so that I have enough time to come back and be prepared for what the opponent plays."

On Thursday, Sindhu will face in the second round another Thai player, 12th-ranked Nitchaon Jindapol, against whom she has a 2-1 win-loss record.

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