Thailand Open 2022 | PV Sindhu makes it to semis, beats world no.1 Akane Yamaguchi
Double Olympic medalist PV Sindhu managed to reach the semi-finals of the Thailand Open 2022 after she beat the world no.1, Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21-15, 20-22, 21-13 on Friday. In the next round, she will face the reigning Olympic champion Chen Yufei of China in the last four clash on Saturday.
In the first game, both Sindhu and Yamaguchi were level at 14-14, but from then on the Indian took off, and finished the game at 21-15. Sindhu continued with her dominance in the second game, too, and threatened to win the match in straight games, but the Japanese girl made a comeback from being 5-11 down, to win the game 22-20.
But Sindhu was not bogged down by this effort of her opponent and raced to an 11-7 lead at the mid-game interval. From there on she showed her class to wrap up the match and sail into the semis. This win also means that she has a 14-9 head-to-head record against Yamaguchi.
Now she will face the world no.4 Yufei from China on Saturday. Meanwhile, she is the only Indian alive in the tournament, while the likes of Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy crashed out earlier. Kidambi Srikanth had also pulled out from his round of 16 clash.