Back to you: India’s P.V. Sindhu returning a shot to China’s Han Yue during the Group W match at the Setia Alam Convention Centre.
SHAH ALAM: Shuttler P.V. Sindhu enjoyed a dream start on her return from injury when she led India to a stunning 3-2 win over top seeds China in the women’s team event in the Asia Team Championships.
The 2019 world champion was sidelined since last October through a knee injury and was making her first appearance of the year in the team meet.
World No. 11 Sindhu though showed no signs of rustiness in her match against world No. 8 Han Yue and came away with an impressive 21-17, 21-15 win to give her team the perfect start in the Group W match at the Setia Alam Convention Centre yesterday.
Buoyed by Sindhu’s win, world No. 23 women’s doubles pair Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand fought hard to overcome world No. 22 Li Yijing-Luo Xumin 10-21, 21-18, 21-17 before 17-year-old Anmol Kharb secured a famous win by beating Wu Luoyu 22-20, 14-21, 21-18.
Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crasto (doubles) and Ashmita Chaliha (singles) had earlier lost their respective matches to Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning and Wang Zhiyi respectively.
China had chosen to leave behind the likes of reigning world champion Chen Yufei and world No. 1 doubles pair Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan but it was still a commendable win for India.“I’m happy that I won today (yesterday) to give my team a point,” said the 28-year-old Sindhu.
“I was very excited to play here in my first tournament of the year.“It was hard for me as I got injured last October just as I was starting get back my best form.
“It definitely hurts a lot but I had to keep believing in myself.
“It feels great to come back today and win my first match.”
India were assured of a spot in the quarter-finals along with China even before the tournament got underway along as both were the only teams drawn in their group.
Now, Sindhu and her teammates have earned themselves a seeding in the last eight tomorrow and will avoid the other group winners.
The quarter-finals draw will be conducted today after the conclusion of all the group matches.
