Super Series Final: PV Sindhu avenges Olympic loss, conquers Carolina to enter semis

Olympic 2016 silver medallist shuttler Pusarla V Sindhuvanquished her Rio tormentor Carolina Marin of Spain in Group B to sail into the semifinals of the BWF Superseries Finals in Dubai on FridayPicAFPDubaiOlympic silver medallist P V Sindhu avenged her heartbreaking loss at the Rio Games to twotime World Champion Carolina Marin with a thrilling straightgame victory in a doordie womens singles Group B contest and sealed her place at the semifinals of the BWF World Super Series Finals here todayIn a muchanticipated contest Sindhu came up trumps against the Olympic champion Marin who had spoiled her gold medal dream at Rio in August The Indian dished out an energetic performance to see off a fighting Marin 2117 2113 in a hardfought battle that lasted 46 minutesA former World No 1 Marin who held a 52 head to head record tried to play an aggressive fastpaced game and pumped herself with each point letting out a war cry but Sindhu was equally up for the battle of nerves and she showed tremendous grit and nerves to emerge victories in a crucial contestWith this win Sindhu finished in the second place behind Chinas Sun Yu who won all the three matches in Group BBoth the players started with an aggressive rally and even though Sindhu had a 20 lead early on Marin soon turned the tables at 43 when the Indian hit long The Spaniard made it 73 with Sindhu playing a few nervous strokesHowever Sindhu changed her approach and got hold of her nerves and reeled off five points to lead 87 But again two long shots from Sindhu and Marin was 98 upThe lefthanded Marin soon came up with a sharp smashwhich an outstretched Sindhu could not connect But the Indian immediately produced three straight points and entered the break with a slender 1110 lead after producing a superb cross court smash which found Marin nappingA lucky net chord helped Sindhu to lead 1312 after the break which she swelled to 1612 with Marin finding the net and hitting longThe duo continued to battle hard and engaged in some fast paced rallies with each trying to outdo the other with sharp acute angled strokes Eventually Sindhu grabbed six game point advantage when Marin missed the baseline The Spaniard saved three points before the Indian sealed the game with a superb smashMarin needed medical treatment for what seemed like a bruise in her feet before the start of the second game The Spaniard used her deceptive returns to put Sindhu in trouble and opened up a 31 lead which the Indian soon erased and grabbed a 53 advantage after another excruciating rallySindhu tried to keep her opponent away from the net and kept tossing the shuttle at the back of the court The ploy seemed to work as Marin committed errors while trying to use deception to break the rhythm Sindhu was equally athletic on court as she stretched jumped and dived all across to cover the court and entered the interval with an 116 lead after Marin sent the shuttle wide twiceAt 137 Sindhu missed the sidelines and coach Pullela Gopichand tried to calm her down With Marin continuing to struggle with her strokes Sindhu soon lead 1710 and eventually grabbed a 2113 match point advantage when Marin hit long after another exciting rally The Indian then sealed the match as the Spaniard found the net again