PV Sindhu advanced to the women’s singles quarter-finals at the 2024 Denmark Open Super 750 following a hard fought win over China’s Han Yue on Thursday.
The 29-year-old Sindhu fought back from a game down to win 18-21, 21-12, 21-16 in 63 minutes at the Jyske Bank Arena in Odense, Denmark.
Sindhu, who returned endured a tough return to the World Tour with an opening round loss at the Arctic Open last week, seemed to be in a much better shape against Han.
The Indian struggled in early exchanges of the match, trailing 4-9. She was later down 13-18 but won four consecutive points in a late surge. The fourth seeded Chinese was pushed to the limit but Han maintained her composure to pocket the opening game 21-18 with a ferocious smash.
The new found momentum late in the first game continued to carry Sindhu forward in the early stages of the second game. She opened up a healthy 11-6 advantage at the mid-game interval after the change of sides and looked comfortable.
There was no looking back from there as a tired Han could muster only six more points in the game as Sindhu forced a decider, winning the second game 21-12 without breaking a sweat.
The double Olympic medallist from India found herself in the backfoot in the final game, trailing 8-11 before the change of ends.
The short mid-game interval seemed to have worked the magic for Sindhu as she fought back to equalise at 12-12. Han, ranked seventh in the world, was forced into a corner with some aggressive shots and the Chinese shuttler had no answers as Sindhu wrapped up the third game 21-16 to book her spot in the quarter-finals.
Sindhu will next take on the winner of the contest between Gregoria Mariska Tunjung and Mia Blichfeldt.
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