French Open badminton: PV Sindhu, with the calming influence of Prakash Padukone, pulls off another comeback to reach quarterfinals | Badminton News
In essence, the key for PV Sindhu was spelt out in the first point of the match itself. Up against Beiwen Zhang in the Round of 16 at the French Open Super 750, the Indian took the shuttle early and hit a crosscourt smash winner to go 1-0 up.But she’d go away from that strategy, allowing the veteran American – who Sindhu first met all the way back in 2011 for the first time – to take charge of the opening game. Sindhu repeatedly went for clears to the backcourt, evidently hoping to pin Zhang to the backcourt but the shuttle more often than not landed long.
It is in these moments when coaching tweaks truly come in handy. In the heat of battle, players can sometimes misread the conditions and try things that don’t work. And as Sindhu mentioned in her social media post after her first-round win: “..having a true legend of Indian badminton my side, taking on a coaching assignment after 25 years just to be in my corner! Prakash sir, I hope this is just the beginning of many more memorable moments together.”
Alongside Indonesia’s Agus Dwi Santoso, Padukone told Sindhu to play flatter and not rush. Sindhu’s control of the shuttle let her down in what was a sluggish start, and the opening game slipped away rather quickly. In the break between games, after Santoso’s tactical advice, Padukone’s calming voice evidently steadied Sindhu. “This end will be better for you,” the former All England champion told her. “Play confidently, bring her to the net, make her lift, and then go for your smash. OK? All the best. Do well. Don’t worry.”
Thereon, Sindhu took charge. Down 0-3, she drew Zhang forward to the net, forced her to lift, and sent down a kill shot at her body. A dominant performance in the last two games saw Sindhu win 13-21, 21-10, 21-14 over the world No. 10 and enter the quarterfinals.
For starters, winning back-to-back matches in three gruelling games is good news for Sindhu physically. Against Michelle Li on Tuesday, Sindhu battled for 80 minutes for a scoreline that couldn’t be closer (20-22, 22-20, 21-19). On her comeback trail after a few months out of the game, Sindhu can now feel confident that her body can last the dance in consecutive matches.
That said, it was also important for Sindhu to feel good about her game. The match against Li, while gritty, wasn’t of the highest quality from two players making their way back from injuries. It was mostly about the fight. The match against Zhang, however, tested Sindhu’s skills and tactics. The American, who had a huge win over Carolina Marin in the first round, is much trickier to handle than Li, as she has several tricks up her sleeve which was seen in the opening game.Impressive fightback
But Sindhu’s change of tempo in the second game often left Zhang wrong-footed and searching for answers. A run of seven straight points at one point saw her force the decider. And once again, Padukone’s advice in the break was simple but effective: “Now you will be playing with the wind, just remember that. So keep the shuttle down, and be careful with the clears. Don’t rush.”
At 4-4, Sindhu was tested on her defensive wares on both flanks but hung in there to dig out a well-earned point. From there, the Indian never let go of the lead.Zhang rallied after the change of ends, but Sindhu – with her signature roars of ‘Come on!’ and a few chants of “Allez, Sindhu!’ from the Parisian crowd – kept the American challenge at an arm’s length. It wasn’t as straightforward as the second game but Sindhu pulled off another comeback to set up a tantalising quarterfinal against Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei.
Having not faced any of the elite at the Asia Team Championships, this will now be Sindhu’s first major test in her preparation for Paris 2024. It will be their first meeting in nearly two years, and Sindhu leads 6-5, though Chen has won two in a row.
Later in the day, Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand pulled off an impressive win against former world No.1s Sayaka Hirota and Yuki Fukushima 21-18 21-13. Hirota came to Paris with a heavy knee brace as the Japanese stars have decided to give Olympic qualification a shot despite not being active on the tour recently.
Fukushima had to do the bulk of the work on court and the Indians, despite some moments of individual brilliance from the Japanese duo, were solid throughout.
It’s now their second win in two meetings against the three-time World Championships silver medalls. The win, on the back of getting the better of Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa, keeps the Race for Paris between these two Indian pairs finely balanced.
There was however disappointment for Kidambi Srikanth as he went down 21-19, 12-21, 20-22 against China’s Lu Guang Zu. Lu has accounted for two Indians in the tournament as he backed up his win over HS Prannoy with another gritty show. Srikanth was once again left frustrated a few errors in the endgame.
