Third seed PV Sindhu beat compatriot Saina Nehwal in straight games to enter the semi-finals of the India Open on Friday. Unfortunately for the home fans at Delhi’s Siri Fort Stadium, there could be only one winner in the blockbuster quarter-final match. Sindhu and Nehwal had clashed in an international event only once before in their career, back in 2014. Nehwal had won that encounter at the India Grand Prix Gold, but that was before Sindhu became the player she is today.

Seeded third and ranked fifth in the world, Sindhu was always the favourite coming into this clash, considering her opponent had returned from a long injury layoff. However, Nehwal won the Malaysia Masters title earlier this year to push her back into the top 10 (currently eighth). Sindhu would have known that her senior compatriot would be no pushover.

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The two players were neck-and-neck early in the first game and shared the first 14 points equally. It was just the start everyone was expecting, before Nehwal dropped some of her initial intensity and allowed Sindhu to take the lead. Sindhu, backed by some unplayable smashes, then raced to a 15-9 lead, before winning an incredible 30-shot rally to make it 17-11 in her favour. Nehwal rallied to make it 20-16, but Sindhu won the next point to take the first game 21-16 in 19 minutes.

Nehwal started much better in the second game, taking a 4-1 lead. Another incredible rally ensued, one that stretched to 24 points, but this time it was Nehwal who came out on top. The 27-year-old was targeting her opponent’s body with her smashes and it was working, as Sindhu looked helpless against them. At the halfway stage of the second game, Nehwal held a four-point advantage of 11-7.

That was soon to become 14-10, before a couple of unplayable body smashes took Nehwal to a 16-12 lead. But just when it looked like we would be seeing a deciding game, a brilliant fightback from Sindhu made it 19-all after the 21-year-old won three straight points. Another body smash from Nehwal took her to game point at 20-19, before a service error made it 20-all. Sindhu then won the next point to get her match point, before closing out the game 22-20. Sindhu’s incredible fightback saw her win six of the last seven points in the second game.

Sindhu’s win meant all top four seeds of the women’s singles draw have qualified for the semi-finals of the India Open. Sindhu will play second seed Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea, while top seed Carolina Marin of Spain will take on Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi. This also means that a repeat of the Rio Olympics final – Sindhu vs Marin – is very much possible.