Syed Modi Super 300: Sindhu puts on a masterclass in efficiency to outplay Unnati, Lakshya too reaches final | Badminton News
PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen kept their dates with destiny in Lucknow, while India will have a representative in each of the five finals on Sunday at the Syed Modi India International. Sindhu and Lakshya entered the tournament as top seeds, were pre-event favourites, and played like that on Saturday. In the doubles categories, it was harder work for Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand, Sai Pratheek-Pruthvi Roy and Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto.There was a buzz around the prospect of 17-year-old Unnati going up against a superstar. But despite offering brief glimpses of her talent, Unnati just couldn’t land any sustained punches on Sindhu who won 21-12, 21-9 in just 36 minutes. Unnati did well to stay in touch with Sindhu in the opening stages at 7-8, but Sindhu went on a dominant run after that, zooming ahead to 16-9. Despite a couple of longer rallies late in the game, Sindhu breezed through.
Unnati started the second game with a confidence-boosting body smash. And then came the best point of the match at 1-1. Sindhu was moved to the four corners of the court with some really good net shots from Unnati, drawing her taller opponent forward. But eventually, Sindhu’s power came through.
Doing commentary on the game for the BWF broadcast was Ashwini Ponnappa, who said she’d like to see Unnati take charge of the net a bit more. But instead of the deft touches, Unnati tried too hard to paint the lines and kept missing them. After she won a good point to make it for 4-8 with a nice down-the-line smash, she immediately made a soft error.
“That’s the difference in experience between the two, knowing when to push. Unnati must focus on getting a few shuttles down the middle instead of missing the lines trying too hard,” Ashwini observed.
In the end, that proved to be the difference. “I maintained the lead from the start. I was just trying out a few strokes and overall, I was confident with the way I was playing,” Sindhu said after the match. “I think Unnati played her best, but I didn’t give her a chance to overtake me.”
Sindhu will face China’s Wu Luo Yu in the final as she chases her third Syed Modi International title. Wu staged an incredible comeback in her semifinal against Thailand’s Lalinrat Chaiwan, winning 11 straight points from 10-19 down in the opener before sealing the win in straight games.
For Unnati, who said that she is also focusing on her 12th Board exams, this was a lesson on when to go for the kill. Understandably, she was trying to play aggressive badminton but decision-making let her down. After her quarterfinal win, when asked what was her biggest learning so far on the senior international circuit, she said there were many areas to work on. Saturday’s experience would have reiterated that for her. It also remains to be seen if she and her father-coach Upkaar Hooda decide to finally make the move out of Rohtak, and enroll at one of the more prominent academies.
Title hopes on track for Lakshya
Shogo Ogawa had been a thorn in the flesh for Indian shuttlers in this tournament. He took out third seed Kiran George 19-21, 22-20, 21-11 in the round of 16, and in the quarterfinals, proved too good for Worlds Junior bronze medall Ayush Shetty, dominating for a 21-17, 21-14 win. But Lakshya started the match superbly, a reverse-slice winner at 4-1 a standout shot on his way to a 21-8, 21-14 victory.
While that was a bit too subtle for the crowd to fathom, they raised the roof as the Indian threw himself around on the court showing off his fabulous defensive skills to go up 7-1. The opening game was a cruise for the top seed. Ogawa brought a little more Japanese sturdiness in defence one has come to expect, but it still wasn’t enough to get past a red-hot Lakshya.
“It’s been a good week for me. I think starting games well has been key for me this week. From the first point, I have been trying to hit the court warm, and that has helped me gain a good lead in the beginning,” Lakshya said. The Indian will be up against Jason Teh Jia Heng on Sunday, the Singaporean fourth seed who trails 0-2 in the head-to-head against Lakshya.
In women’s doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand produced a fine comeback against third seeds Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Aimsaard of Thailand. The Indians prevailed in the semifinals 18-21, 21-18, 21-10 in 63 minutes.
Home duo Kapila/Crasto 🇮🇳 go up against Zhou/Yang 🇨🇳.#BWFWorldTour #SyedModi2024 pic.twitter.com/UTpoHElCjD
— BWF (@bwfmedia) November 30, 2024
After a tough opening game, the two pairs were locked in a neck-and-neck battle in the second. The Indians got the crowd going as they bagged four straight points from 16-16, and forced a decider. The second-seeded Indians were on fire in the decider from the start, racing to a 8-2 lead. One of the keys to their win was the subtle direction changes they were able to employ in defence, especially Treesa showing impressive racquet-head control. Gayatri was brilliant with her game awareness at the net, often taking the pace off rallies at the right time.
Treesa and Gayatri came into the match with a head-to-head of 1-1 against the Aimsaard sers, with both matches going the dance. But here the Indians were able to dominate Game 3 and save some fuel for Sunday’s title clash.
In mixed doubles, Dhruv will play his first Super 300 level final on the BWF World Tour as he and Tanisha reached the summit clash, beating the fourth-seeded Chinese Zhou Zhi Hong and Yang Jia Yi 21-16, 21-15. In an exciting all-Indian men’s doubles clash, Pruthvi-Sai prevailed over Ishaan Bhatnagar-Sankar Prasad Udayakumar 21-17 17-21 21-16.
