Lightning fast Sindhu off to a flyer at the All England

PV Sindhu swamped Chinese newcomer Wang Zhi Yi with some streaky speed, to get her All England campaign off on roller skates. There were wheels on her soles and there was an agitated hurry on her whirring arms scything down on the shuttle, and crowding her opponent as she opened at Birmingham with a 21-18, 21-13 blur of a bombast.
The only soft pastels on the court were her ba blue outfit which even for shuttle’s laidback camerawork, was captured zigzagging laterally to the net with such fervour that it looked like a statement of intent. You wouldn’t glean slow shuttles were de rigueur on the day, if you watched Sindhu dominate the Chinese, in isolation. There was a lead to be taken, a lead to be held and then a lead to be rubbed in the opponent’s face, and all of this was done drumming up urgency in collecting points.
Heavily strapped Wang Zhi Yi might be around her knee, but the Indian was pounding so much pressure on that knee with the force of her rushed returns that the preventive taping looked like unravelling at the seams. It was in hitting the shuttle high and hitting it early that Sindhu turned this into a no-contest. There was Marinesque quality to her merely getting under the shuttle, and thwacking it right back.

Deft touch 🏸 @Pvsindhu1 eases into the next round 21-18 21-13 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/ukJdPZzde6
— 🏆 Yonex All England Badminton Championships 🏆 (@YonexAllEngland) March 16, 2022
This wasn’t the usual power-play, because the smashes didn’t pummel down across the net irretrievably. This was plain simple relentless returns that can paralyse thinking. Sindhu has never looked this eager to get on with her serve as she did today, point after point after point. And she served in quick succession – picking a 6 point flurry in the first set, and an even more rapid 9 point gust in the follow up set.
There were some cutting cross drops to the forecourt forehand of Wang – an area that doesn’t just call the lunge into play, but also opens up the rest of the court should a scrambled return get lifted back. The Chinese had her own plans and gamely stayed within two points of Sindhu in the opener till 11-9. But the break, a good swill of water taken angrily and a snorting resumption saw Sindhu growl her aggression and break away.

She celebrated with a tight pumped f, but didn’t dwell on it much, because the next ambush had to be effected on the Chinese who was taken aback the pace. Wang was narrowing the gap, but at no point did she look like she could threaten and overhaul Sindhu. Her points were punctuations between two Sindhu whirlwinds. Rallies went long, but didn’t look protracted, and much of this was owing to Sindhu being in peak physical condition to hungrily gulp striding space on the court.

She was at the net in a jiffy, and taming a toss angrily at the corner the next rapid moment and back to midcourt to send the shuttle cross, slicing at the hit but not bothering with artry on the day. Speed was the currency. And that implied allowing limited time to the opponent to figure out her gameplan, her blitz for opening day.
The second set went more of the same, but in hyper-drive. And the acceleration, post the interval, was so brutal that the time the Chinese crossed into double digits, Sindhu was staring at the finish line. With no last minute hiccups built into the play.
Traditionally a slow starter, and someone prone to wobbles in finishing, Sindhu had no time for either on Wednesday. A Chinese accounted for is always good news in Sindhu’s tournament order of play, ever since she nicked her first World Championship bronze, packing off a bunch of them in 2013. The road ahead brings the winner of Supanida Katethong or Japanese Sayaka Takahashi, and a further faceoff with Akane Yamaguchi and Chen Yufei.

Speed is a new weapon in Sindhu’s arsenal, and it will be interesting to see what gear she hits against the next few opponents. Yamaguchi has seldom been comfortable when faced with this sort of aggression. Sindhu can wing it tactically against the likes of Chen Yufei too, if she continues to thwack as she did today.