Sindhu also avenged her loss to Chochuwong this season in the BWF World Tour Finals group match earlier this month.
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Defending champion PV Sindhu advanced to the BWF World Championships women’s singles quarterfinals with a straight-game victory over Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand on Thursday in Huelva, Spain. In a 48-minute pre-quarterfinal match, the world number 7 Indian defeated her Thai opponent, who was ranked three places lower, 21-14 21-18. Sindhu, who was seeded sixth in the main event, improved her head-to-head record against Chochuwong to 5-3 with the victory.
Sindhu also avenged her two losses to Chochuwong this season, in the BWF World Tour Finals group match earlier this month and the All England Championships in March. Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, will face top seed and world number one Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei, who defeated Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland in the quarterfinals 21-10 19-21 21-11.
Sindhu took a 5-1 lead early on, but Chochuwong rallied to close the gap to 5-4 and then to 10-9. The Indian surged ahead from there, winning the first game 15-10 and then 19-11. The second game was a closer contest, despite Sindhu jumping out to a 3-0 lead. She led 11-6 at the break, and the second half featured several long rallies, with the Thai player winning a few of them.
Also Read – PV Sindhu humbled by An Seyoung in final of BWF World Tour Finals
Sindhu led 16-10, but Chochuwong staged a comeback, closing the gap to 18-15 and then 19-18. After a long rally, she won a crucial point to make it 20-18 before winning the second game and the match. The Indian, who received a first-round bye, defeated Slovakia’s Martina Repiska in the second round on Tuesday, 21-7 21-9.
South Korean teenager An Seyoung beat Sindhu in the final of the BWF World Tour Finals. Recently, the 19-year-old from Gwangju took just over 30 minutes to end Sindhu’s hopes of a second year-end title, with a 21-16, 21-12 win. With the World Tour Finals title this weekend, the Korean becomes only the second women’s singles player in history, after Ratchanok Intanon, to win three titles in a row. It is also the third time An has beaten Sindhu in as many meetings between the two on the court.
An, who made the South Korean national team at the age of 15, can make opponents fall into her rhythm, a conveyor belt of clears, retrieves, and control. It has the ability to slow down players, defuse attacks, and force errors. The world No. 6, who wore two tapes on her right leg, one above her knee and the other around her shin, reportedly switched her core style of play – from attack to defence – a couple of years ago because she felt a purely offensive game was tiring her out quickly.
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