French Open 2023: PV Sindhu fights back again to defeat Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, Satwik-Chirag off to a winning start | Badminton News
For the second time in two weeks, PV Sindhu came back from a game down to defeat world No 7 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung as she got off to a winning start at the French Open Super 750 tournament in Rennes on Tuesday.
Sindhu, who has re-entered the top 10 in the world after a couple of semifinals in the European swing, wasn’t off to the best of starts but bounced back to win in 69 minutes 12-21, 21-18, 21-15. And once again, like in Odense, she will face Thailand’s Supanida Katethong on Thursday against whom she now has a 4-2 head-to-head.
Also progressing to the round of 16 was the newly crowned world No 1 duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. In their first appearance on court after moving to the top of the world rankings on the back of the horic Asian Game hold, Satwik-Chirag prevailed 21-13, 21-13 against world No 33 Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar of France.
One of those days when you run the damn engine on fumes because there was definitely no fuel left in the tank towards the end!! 😮💨
A win is a win, and I’ll take it! Had to draw every last bit of energy ❤️💪 pic.twitter.com/zgvgrUmwPC
— Pvsindhu (@Pvsindhu1) October 24, 2023
The Indians had withdrawn from Denmark Open last week in Odense but showed no real signs of rust in what was a solid showing. Chirag and Satwik will next take on their idols and Indonesian stalwarts Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. The Indian duo are the defending champions at the event, and have enjoyed playing at French Open in the past. The H2H is level 3-3 against the pair known as Daddies, and the Indians defeated them at the 2019 edition for one of their best early wins.
Sindhu came into the match with a 9-2 head-to-head lead in the previous 11 meetings. But Tunjung, after losing their first six matches, had won two in a row earlier this year and had the wood over Sindhu. But the Indian has now won the last three meetings starting from the Indonesia Open to extend the record to 10-2.
The 2019 World Champion tweeted after that match, “One of those days when you run the damn engine on fumes because there was definitely no fuel left in the tank towards the end. A win is a win, and I’ll take it! Had to draw every last bit of energy.”Most Read
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It indeed appeared so at the start of the match as the draining week in Odense (after another semifinal appearance in Vantaa) seemed to have to taken a lot out of her. The first game saw Tunjung dominate for most part, running through the second half. But when a turnaround looked likely, Sindhu dug deep. She kept in touch with the former junior world champion for the most part. Tunjung however put together a fine run of points to go up 18-16 and be within three points of the finish line.
That’s when Sindhu upped the tempo masterfully to win five straight points to take the second game, Then the decider was to be another tight start but just as she did in Denmark, Sindhu shifted through the gears to take a handy 11-7 lead into the final change of ends. From the far side of the court, she started dominating as the errors flew from Tunjung’s racket.
The women’s doubles pairing of Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda lost in straight games 21-6 21-16 against Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min of China. On Wednesday, Srikanth Kidambi and Lakshya Sen will begin their campaigns in men’s singles.
