PV Sindhu falls to deceptive brilliance of Mariska; HS Prannoy in final after Adinata retires hurt

Prannoy will hope he can nail down a finals win after years of perseverance, while Sindhu will need to rethink her game against players like Mariska

PV sindhu on the left and HS Prannoy on the right. (AP/FILE)

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HS Prannoy made his first final of the season, after the unfortunate retirement of his opponent Christian Adinata who suffered a nasty fall, as his knee caved under him. Prannoy was leading 19-17 at that juncture.

Earlier, the young Adinata had shown great grit to come back into contention from being 11-1 down at the first interval. The nasty injury occurred as he fell backwards with the knee wobbling under him.

Prannoy plays the winner of Taiwan’s Lin Chun-Yi and Chinese Weng Hong Yang in the finals. Searching for his first Tour title at the Super 500 level, Prannoy will back himself on Sunday to go the distance, after he took out Chou Tien Chen, Li Shifeng and Kenta Nishimoto in three setters. Often a giant killer, Prannoy will hope this time he can nail down a finals win after years of perseverance. India’s highest ranked player has looked in good nick this week, managing to close out tricky matches.

Sindhu goes down to Tunjung

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PV Sindhu struggled to read the deceptive brilliance of Indonesian Gregoria Mariska Tunjung and went down 21-14, 21-17 in the semifinals. Tunjung alternated cross slices with a wicked straight smash to completely tangle Sindhu who despite playing well, didn’t stand a chance against the strokemaking Tunjung.

Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung returns a shot during her women’s singles semifinals match against India’s Pusarla V. Sindhu at the Malaysia Masters badminton tournament at Bukit Jalil Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Saturday, May 27, 2023. AP/PTI(AP05_27_2023_000143B)

Sindhu held the first lead at 11-8, but thereafter was outgunned by Tunjung’s variety in deception. Her weapon of choice on the day was a delicious cross drop, which she played often and which at other times hung in the air as an option, sending Sindhu the wrong way of the court. As soon as Sindhu attempted to get into position to retrieve the cross, Tunjung brought out the straight smash to completely befuddle her.

The winner of Spain Masters did more of the same to improve their career head to head to 2-7. Sindhu typically struggles against deceptive players like Tai Tzu Ying and Intanon Ratchanok, and Tunjung is on her way to acquiring the same skills as those two tough opponents.

Besides the cross slices, she had the punch clears to send Sindhu to the back, and a tight cross net shot that she used often at important junctures. In fact the end came when Sindhu netted one of Tunjung’s low backhand cross shots.

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It wasn’t so much Sindhu’s errors as Tunjung’s winners on the day. While the Indian started the second set again with a 4-1 lead, she couldn’t sustain the resistance as cross drops rained on her forecourt. Tunjung broke away at 11-16 and Sindhu found no way back into the match.