Hyderabad, Tue Aug 27 : Rising shuttler PV Sindhu stole the show with a hard-fought win over World No.3 Germany’s Juliane Schenk as Awadhe Warriors sailed into the semifinals of the inaugural Indian Badminton League with a clinical win over Pune Pistons, here on Monday.
Sindhu had lost her previous two encounters against Schenk but in another indication that she is the rising star, the 18-year-old held her nerve to beat the plucky and experienced German. For Sindhu, the World Championship bronze medallist, the victory over Schenk, one of the players who played a part in breaking China’s stranglehold on the sport, is another chapter in her rising career graph.
After Sindhu and K Srikanth won their respective women’s and men’s singles matches, it was Marcis Kido and Mathias Boe who outplayed Pune Pistons pair of Arun Vishnu and Sanave Thomas in men’s doubles to give Warriors an unassailable 3-0 lead in their final league match at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium.
Sindhu and Schenk engaged in an attritional battle before the Hyderabadi-girl pulled off a sensational upset win in two tight games. A capacity home crowd egged on the 18-year-old as she prevailed over her opponent 21-20 21-20. Schenk edged ahead in the first game with a 7-4 lead but Sindhu narrowed the gap to 7-6. The World Championships bronze-medallist Sindhu overtook Schenk for the first time as she took a two point lead at 9-7, having won five points on the trot after the break.
Schenk clawed her way back to 13-12 as the players went into the second break at 14-12. The seasoned German campaigner did not allow Sindhu to score easily as her powerful forehand shots kept the score even at 16-16. Both fought tooth and nail for every point as the game was evenly poised at 18-18.
