P. V. Sindhu and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the quarterfinals of the China Masters Super 750 tournament on Thursday
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SHENZHEN — P. V. Sindhu and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the quarterfinals of the China Masters Super 750 tournament on Thursday, notching straight-games victories.
Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, needed just 41 minutes to dispatch world No. 6 Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 21-15, 21-15. The win not only booked her place in the last eight but also helped her level the head-to-head against the Thai to 6-5.
“I am happy with the win, and it was very important for me from the beginning to be alert and give my 100 per cent,” Sindhu said after the match. “She (Chochuwong) is a top player. I played her in the Indonesia Open; that time, it was a hard match. After winning the first game, I was much more alert in the second game. The points were going to be equal, so it was very important for me to stay close to her, as every point counts. I am happy that I am on the winning side, and I gave my best.”
Sindhu, who had suffered a first-round exit at the Hong Kong Open last week, was clearly determined to make a statement in Shenzhen. “It’s good that if you win the first game, you finish it off in the second game. Straight wins always give you that confidence,” she added. “But you also have to be prepared for long matches and make sure that you are quicker on your feet.”
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She also spoke about the challenge posed by the strong air-conditioning drift inside the Shenzhen venue: “It’s (drift) always there, every tournament there is wind, but it is important that you have control. But sometimes it’s very hard to control.”
Sindhu is currently working with India’s women’s singles coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama, formerly with Indonesia’s men’s team. She credited the partnership for her recent progress. “It’s very good (working relationship). He is a very good coach. Initially when we started, obviously we knew it will take time. We coordinated and figured out what needs to be done and changed. As a coach he is giving his best efforts, and as an athlete it’s my duty also.”
Next up for the Indian star is a daunting clash against world No. 1 An Se Young, who has won all seven of their past encounters, six in straight games.
In men’s doubles, world No. 3 pair Satwik-Chirag brushed aside Chinese Taipei’s Wang Chi-lin and Chiu Hsiang-chieh 21-13, 21-12 in just 33 minutes, setting up a quarterfinal against home duo Ren Xiang Yu and Xie Haonan.
“It was a really good win,” Chirag reflected. “Obviously, Wang Chunlin has been a really experienced player with two Olympic golds, so it’s always tough playing against him. But really happy that we could win that comfortably. They took us to three games last week in Hong Kong, where we completed the job in two days’ time and just under 35 minutes. I think it was all about confidence this time.”
Satwik added that the pair were sharper in their approach. “When we came in the Hong Kong Open, after playing the World Championship, the first round was always tough. Yesterday also, if you can see, it was close in the first set. If we would have lost the first game, I think it would have gone to three games maybe. But here, after yesterday’s win, we got pretty comfortable on how to manage, how to adjust to the situation. I think we made easy mistakes in the Hong Kong Open in the second game. Today we kept on saying, just focus on the first four strokes — service, receiving, service, receiving — then we’ll see if they can come up with a rally.”
Confidence, they said, has been the key. “Yeah, definitely,” said Chirag. “I think slowly and steadily, we are going where we want to. It’s been a while, but slowly we are getting back our confidence.”
Looking ahead to their next clash against the Chinese pair, Satwik joked about their recent run of match-ups. “In the Hong Kong Open, we played first round left-right, then second round lefty-righty, then the quarter-finals lefty-righty, semis also lefty-righty. Here again yesterday lefty-righty, today also lefty-righty. We’ve never played this many lefty-righties. But yeah, Chinese pairs come up with good strokes, and obviously the crowd will be there. But we love playing against Chinese, we have that rivalry.”
Shenzhen, he admitted, has a special place for the duo. “Maybe Shenzhen is special for us. We wanted to make it more special. We came up runner-up in the semi-finals before, but this time we wanted to see if we can reach the podium again — but not as a runner-up.”