IBL: Sindhu, Srikanth take Awadh Warriors to semifinals

Rising shuttler P.V Sindhu and K Srikanth scored impressive singles victories as Awadhe Warriors sailed into the semifinals of the Indian Badminton League with a 3—2 win over Pune Pistons, here on Monday.

Sindhu, lived up to her reputation by recording a hard-fought 21—20 21—20 win over world no.3 Juliane Schenk of Germany.

Srikanth, who recently won the prestigious Thailand Open, doubled the lead with a 21—18 21—16 win over Saurabh Verma in the men’s singles.

The men’s doubels pair of Marcis Kido and Mathias Boe then sealed the tie for Warriors with a tight 21—15 21—16 win over Arun Vishnu and Sanave Thomas at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium.

Having lost the tie after three matches, Pune side earned consolation wins in the fourth and fifth rubbers.

Tien Minh Nyugen beat RMV Guru Sai Dutt 21—12 21—18 in the second men’s singles and the mixed doubles pair of Joachim Fischer and Ashwini Ponnappa defeated Markis Kido and Pia Z Bernadet 21—16 21—14 to end the day for Pune with a win.

Sindhu’s smashing victory

Earlier, Sindhu and Schenk were engaged in a battle of attrition but the Hyderabadi-girl pulled off a sensational win in two close games.

“I have played against Schenk twice but this is the first time I won and am feeling really happy. Also I am thrilled and touched to see my college friends and teachers who have come here to support me,” said Sindhu after her match.

Talking on his win, Srikanth said, “I had a very good start and I think this was my kind of style. Shuttle speed was much better than Bangalore which helped me to win the game.”

Schenk had made a dominating start but Sindhu won five points on the trot after the first break to take lead for the first time with scoreboard reading 9—7.

The German kept fighting as the two players went into the second break with 14—12 lead for the Indian. The seasoned German campaigner did not allow Sindhu to score easily as her powerful forehand shots kept the score even. Both fought tooth and nail for every point as the game was evenly poised 18—18.

Schenk made a service error and gave an opening to Sindhu but she failed to make use of the opportunity as the fate of the two hung in the balance at 20—20. Schenk missed a backhand to hand the first game to World Championships bronze medallist.

In the second game, Schenk gained an early 3—1 lead but was soon trailing 3—5. The German, however, responded strongly with her cross-court smashes to leave Sindhu trailing 6—11. The gap grew to seven points as Schenk extended her lead to 16—9.

But Sindhu scripted a remarkable recovery to claw her way back into the game. At 19—17, Sindhu rode on her smashes and better placements to restore parity at 19—19.

At 20—20, it could be anybody’s game but a smash beyond the reach of Schenk ended the nail-biting contest in favour of Sindhu.

Srikanth’s winning play

In the men’s singles, Verma dominated the first game till it was 9—3 but Srikanth bounced back. He first reduced the gap to 14—12 and then put on display his trademark deft shots and cross-court winners to clinch the issue in his favour.

Srikanth dominated the second game establishing a lead of 9—3 and then swelled it to 14—3. Verma tried his best to make a comeback but it was too late for him as a gritty Srikanth went about his business with ease and comfortably secured the win with a match point with a cross-court push.

In the men’s doubles games that followed, Awadhe’s pair of Kido and Boe defeated Pune’s Vishnu and Thomas.

Post their win, Boe said, “It was another day at office.

“I and Kido were leading by 4 or 5 points throughout the match today and had complete control on our game. Also there was no point when we were under pressure.”

In the second men’s singles, the first game was a one-sided affair, Guru Sai Dutt put up a stiff resistance in the second game to recover the lost ground.

However, Nyugen had the last laugh as he managed to reach the point target of 21 first to score victory.

In the mixed doubles event that followed, Fischer and Ponnappa played fantastically to end on a high.

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