Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu showed glimpses of her old self, dishing out a compact game to storm into the semi-finals of Denmark Open Super 750 tournament with a comfortable win over World No. 19 Supanida Katethong in Odense, on Friday.
The two-time Olympic medallist, who has endured a winless phase this season, displayed her immaculate retrieving skills and exemplary net play to outshine Katethong 21-19, 21-12 in 47 minutes and make it to a second semi-final in two weeks.
She had reached the semi-finals at the Arctic Open Super 500 last week in Finland.
Sindhu will face either Spain's three-time world champion Carolina Marin or Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei next.
It hasn't been exactly smooth sailing for Sindhu in this tournament as she took three games to get rid of her opponents -- world no 28 Kristy Gilmour and world no 7 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the first two rounds.
Coming into this match, the Indian enjoyed a 3-2 record against the Thai but the twin losses at India Open 2022 and 2023 editions would still hurt Sindhu, as it came in front of her home crowds.
But on Friday, the 28-year-old somewhat erased those memories as she matched her technically sound opponent in every department and managed to limit her errors to come up trumps.
Katethong tried to make Sindhu move around the court with her pushes to the back and then drawing her to net. But Sindhu was up for it and kept at it during the fast-paced rallies. She played some cross-court forehands to good affect.
The Indian did miss a couple of points for misjudgement at the backline but that didn't matter as she grabbed a 11-8 lead with a cross-court smash.
After the change of ends, the Thai erred in the forecourt few times to allow Sindhu dominate the proceedings. The Indian was up 19-12 in a jiffy.
The Thai played some precise shots on the lines to threaten Sindhu's supremacy. The Indian was also guilty of making unforced errors as Katethong recovered to 17-19.
However, the Indian crushed the revival with a on-the-line return to grab three game points and sealed the opening game after Katethong floated a cross-court wide.
In the second game, Katethong struggled with her length and sprayed the shuttle long and wide as Sindhu was up 5-1. Two precise returns, and a lucky net chord, helped Katethong to draw level at 5-5.
Sindhu however managed to eke out a 9-6 lead. The Thai seemed to step up the pace and made it 8-9 after unleashing a straight smash. Katethong set up the points well but failed in execution as Sindhu again led 11-9.
The Hyderabadi looked more aggressive as she had all the answers to the questions her opponent threw at her. She mixed her half smashes, drives and drops to keep gathering points as Katethong fell into a pool of errors, especially in her pursuit to go for the lines.
The result was that the Indian was up 16-10. With the Thai going long again, Sindhu moved to 18-11. She produced a cross court forehand to gather another point and soon grabbed eight match points.
Sindhu sealed it comfortably with another trademark cross court smash.
