With a straightforward victory against world No. 19 Supanida Katethong in Odense, Denmark, on Friday, star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu advanced to the quarterfinals of the Denmark Open Super 750 competition.
The two-time Olympic medalist, who has struggled with winning this season, outplayed Katethong 21-19, 21-12 in only 47 minutes, and advanced to her second semifinal in as many weeks.
Last week in Finland, she had advanced to the quarterfinals of the Arctic Open Super 500.
Carolina Marin of Spain, a three-time world champion, has a commanding 10-5 record against Sindhu and will now be her opponent. Due to Sindhu’s four consecutive losses against the world No. 6, it will be a difficult match.
In this competition, Sindhu hasn’t exactly had a straightforward ride; in the previous two rounds, she needed three games to defeat world Nos. 28 Kristy Gilmour and 7 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung.
The Indian had a 3-2 advantage over the Thai going into this match, but Sindhu would still be wounded by her defeats in the 2022 and 2023 India Opens because they took place in front of her home audience.
However, the 28-year-old managed to somewhat erase those memories on Friday as she matched her technically proficient opponent in every area and managed to contain her blunders to come out on top.
With her pushes to the back and subsequent draws to the net, Katethong attempted to make Sindhu move around the court. However, Sindhu was ready for the challenge and persisted throughout the frantic rallies. She successfully used several cross-court forehands.
The Indian did lose a few points due to poor positioning at the backline, but it didn’t matter since she quickly took the lead with a cross-court smash to make the score 11-8.
Following the change of ends, the Thai made a couple mistakes in the forecourt, allowing Sindhu to control the game. In a flash, the Indian was leading 19–12.
To challenge Sindhu’s hegemony, the Thai played several deft strokes on the lines. The Indian also made careless mistakes as Katethong improved to 17–19.
The Indian, however, ended the comeback with a return on the line that earned him three game points and ended Katethong’s chances when he floated a cross-court wide.
In the second game, with Sindhu leading 5-1, Katethong battled with her length and threw the shuttle far and wide. Katethong was able to pull even at 5-5 thanks to two accurate returns and a fortunate net chord.
However, Sindhu was able to squeak out a 9-6 victory. The Thai player seemed to pick up the tempo as he unleashed a straight smash to make it 8-9. While Katethong did a good job of setting up the points, Sindhu again led 11-9.
The Hyderabadi seemed more assertive since she knew all of the answers to the queries thrown at her by her rival. As Katethong plunged into a pool of mistakes, particularly in her effort to go for the lines, she combined her half smashes, drives, and drops to maintain accumulating points.
The outcome was a 16-10 Indian advantage. The Thai went long once again, bringing Sindhu’s score to 18-11. For the next point, she delivered a cross-court forehand, and she soon had eight match points.
Another of Sindhu’s signature cross-court smashes gave her the victory with ease.
