Sindhu goes down fighting in Denmark Open final
P.V. Sindhu lost to Li Xuerui of China in the final of the Denmark Open Superseries Premier at Odense in straight sets 19-21, 12-21. Despite leading comfortably in the first set, Sindhu lost her maiden Superseries Premier final to the Olympic champion who needed the crucial win on her comeback trail from injury in the build-up to the Rio Games.
The first set saw a neck to neck race to 10 as both players traded the lead. Sindhu used her height and reach effectively as she moved lithely around the court picking up Li's well placed shots. The Chinese had come in with a strategy of playing the shuttle high to keep Sindhu pegged to the backline and stuck to it. Lee won a marginal call at 8-8 that landed on the backcourt line but lost three points on the trot till 10-13 to similar shots. Meanwhile, Sindhu raced to a lead of 16-10 on the back of some heavy- hitting.
However, the Chinese' decision to stick to her backcourt play eventually worked as Sindhu gave away at least five points by offering no shot only for the shuttle to land inside the court. Sindhu also netted three unforced errors to give away the lead at 17-17. From 18-18, Li held her nerves and won the set 21-19.
The second set was a one-sided affair as Li grabbed an early lead and never let Sindhu within reach. Sindhu had no answer as Li unleashed smash after smash to run away with the set 21-12.
The Olympic champion, on her comeback from injury, cemented her claim to the Rio Games just in time with this crucial win. All is not lost for Sindhu however, as she made her maiden entry into a Superseries Premier final, defeating three higher ranked opponents including the mercurial Marin in her path to the final.
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