Madrid Spain Masters: In a thriller, aggressive PV Sindhu rolls back the years to enter final

PV Sindhu won a match against Yeo Jia Man in straight sets, which in the first place she shouldn’t have twice come close to frittering. But in contriving to turn it into a thriller, the Indian turned back time, her manner of winning similar to the edge of seat skirmishes she used to play circa 2015, before the Olympic medals burnished her reputation as a big occasion special. Scrapping and scraping through, sharp claws, menacing smashes and all.
On Saturday, the fight was back in Sindhu as she won 24-22, 22-20. Perhaps liberated from the pressure of reputations having slipped oh-so-briefly out of the Top Ten, Sindhu’s formidable shoulders didn’t droop when encountering 7 set points in the opener. Instead, she stomped and stamped her big power game on Yeo prepared for a scrap, and rode on some luck she created for herself with those indefatigable strides.
There isn’t a surer sign of good form in Sindhu’s game than when she strikes the shuttle really high and smashes straight at the opponent. Both checkboxes were filled out prominently. Attack can’t be a fall-back option for Sindhu, it needs to be the core of her game, and though the World no 33 opponent wasn’t so formidable, it was in the aggressive intent that Sindhu could out manoeuvre the hard-trying Singaporean.

SHE DID IT 😍🕺💃@Pvsindhu1 with a solid 24-22, 22-20 win in semis over 🇸🇬’s Yeo Jia Min 🔥
📸: @badmintonphoto#SpainMasters2023#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/jP2DMipLqE
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) April 1, 2023
Yeo has a dependable smash, a cross hit of her own. And throughout the opening set, she haggled for points and traded winners on Sindhu’s backhand and the forecourt lunge. The Indian was raining down straight smashes to pin her back, but Yeo had a couple of hit variations from the midcourt and didn’t allow the Indian to smother her with the smashes.
Things were pretty even at 9-9, but thereafter Yeo started pulling away, gunning for Sindhu’s backhand from the midcourt. From 11-9 up, Yeo would reach 20-15, before her game imploded. Because Sindhu had been defending competently, or more because she feared Sindhu’s comeback qualities (apparent in the last two matches at Madrid), Yeo kept going for the sidelines and sprayed the shuttle wide.
The errors pooled up around her, as Sindhu stayed solid and piled on the pressure. Five set points saved, Sindhu would dive in vain at the end of the longest rally for Yeo to go 21-20 up. Sindhu responded with a round-the-head drop shot that cancelled out the seventh set point. In the end, Sindhu built herself that inevitability of taking the opener simply not giving up.

Repeat of Rio Olympic grand finale? 😋👀 @BadmintonESP @madridmasters #SpainMasters2023 https://t.co/i9iw05Rmr0
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) April 1, 2023
Yeo took an early 4-1 lead in the second, but Sindhu had begun peppering the Singaporean 24-year-old with fast drops. Yeo would also go for body smashes, but found herself level at 14-all. Three winners would tug Sindhu ahead to 17-14, but a couple of unsuccessful challenges would switch the lead to 17-18 and invert it again to 20-18.
Scores went neck to neck at 20-all, as Yeo wouldn’t back down. On Sindhu’s third match point, Yeo would go wide, ending valiantly but in vain. It could be said that Yeo didn’t believe she could win, and Sindhu never entertained thoughts of losing – such was her proactive game throughout. Sindhu would take their head-to-head score to 4-0, though this was the tightest of the straight sets they’ve been involved in.
Sindhu faces Marin-slayer Tunjung next
Sindhu next plays Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia, against whom she’s won 7 times and never lost even once. Tunjung defeated home-favourite Carolina Marin 10-21, 21-15, 21-10 in the semis.
Their relative rankings might make it seem like it could get close – Sindhu at No 11, and Tunjung at No 12. However the Indian finds the Indonesian’s playing style fairly comfortable, and will back herself to break the title drought. Sindhu last won the Singapore Open on the Tour.
Tunjung is an elegant shuttler who has twice beaten He Bingjiao recently, and run Chen Yufei close. Her last faceoff with Sindhu was a three setter, and the youngster comes armed with fair amount of deception.