Badminton star P.V. Sindhu in action during the Syed Modi International Super 300 badminton tournament in Lucknow.
| Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena
Statistically, P.V. Sindhu and Unnati Hooda have nothing in common. The two-time Olympic medallist and former World No. 2 had already won the first of her five Worlds Championships medals by the time Unnati was five years old. And when the two meet in the semifinals of the Syed Modi international Super 300 here on Saturday, the result may well indicate if the baton has been passed to the next generation or not.
On Friday, Sindhu appeared to have learnt from her previous struggles in the tournament, playing her best game so far in an easy 21-15, 21-17 win against China’s Wang Dai. Attacking from the beginning and controlling her strokes, Sindhu was more fluid in her movements and made full use of the court, making Wang work hard for every point. A few unforced errors in the second game had some tense moments for her father, sitting far above, but little of concern.
Unnati, on the other hand, started tentatively, struggling with the AC drift and the court surface against Ishika Jaiswal in the first game before breezing through the second for a 21-16, 21-9 win. The 17-year-old, considered among the brightest of upcoming talents in Indian badminton, is looking forward to the clash. “I have never played against her before so pretty excited about the match. Sindhu and Saina are my idols, but there is no pressure. I will just go out there and give my best, play freely, and hopefully will also learn from the match,” she told The Hindu.
Meanwhile, in the men’s draw, Lakshya Sen and Priyanshu Rajawat won their respective quarterfinal matches and, being drawn in separate halves, remained on course for an all-Indian final.
The results (quarterfinals):
Women: P.V. Sindhu bt Wang Dai (Chn) 21-15, 21-17; Unnati Hooda bt Ishika Jaiswal 21-16, 21-9; Lalinrat Chaiwan (Tha) bt Tasnim Mir 21-13, 21-15; Luo Yu Wu (Chn) bt Shriyanshi Valishetty 20-22, 21-14, 21-19.
Men: Lakshya Sen bt Meiraba Luwang Maisnam 21-8, 21-19; Priyanshu Rajawat bt Hai Dang Nguyen (Vie) 21-13, 21-8; Shogo Ogawa (Jpn) bt Ayush Shetty 21-7, 21-14; Jia Heng Jason Teh (Sin) bt Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar 21-10, 22-20.
Published – November 29, 2024 03:45 pm IST