Madrid Spain Masters: PV Sindhu sails into semis

Sindhu got the better of world no. 19 Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark 21-14 21-17 to reach her first semifinal of the year

Madrid: Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu cruised to the semifinals even as compatriot Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the Madrid Spain Masters here on Friday.

Sindhu got the better of world no. 19 Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark 21-14 21-17 to reach her first semifinal of the year. Srikanth, on the other hand, lost to top seed Japanese shuttler Kenta Nishimoto 18-21 15-21 in the men’s singles quarterfinals.

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Sindhu, who is seeded second, has been struggling to find her feet since returning from a long injury lay off. The 27-year-old has slipped out of the top 10 in the world rankings and until now hadn’t been able to cross the second round in the last few tournaments in 2023.

After a sedate start to the match, the former world champion completely dominated the second half of the play to take first game comfortably. Sindhu was, however, trailing for most part of the second game. But she made an impressive comeback fighting from 6-12 to registering a straight game win.

The lone Indian left in the Super 300 tournament, Sindhu will clash with the unseeded Yeo Jia Min of Singapore for a place in the final. Earlier the fifth seeded Srikanth, a former world number one, showed flashes of brilliance but the inconsistency, that has plagued him all season, once again marked the end of him. It was Srikanth’s third loss to the Japanese shuttler.