PV Sindhu enters Korea Open Superseries badminton semi-final, Sameer Verma exits

PV Sindhu defeated Minatsu Mitani 21-19, 16-21, 21-10 to enter the semi-finals of the Korea Open Superseries being held in Seoul.

PV Sindhu raced to an early 5-2 lead in the first game, but Minatsu Mitani fought back, managing to take an 11-9 lead at the break.

The back and forth nature of the match continued after the break, with neither player managing to take a convincing lead. PV Sindhu eventually found her rhythm and edged her Japanese opponent 21-19 in the first game.

Minatsu Mitani started the second game well, taking a 5-1 lead and pushing PV Sindhu on the back foot. Sindhu then won a flurry of points and took an 11-9 lead going into the break.

But just like in the first game, the player who led in the break ended up on the losing end of the game. Sindhu was forced onto the backcourt as Nitani dominated the nets and won the second game 21-16.

PV Sindhu came out all guns blazing in the third game, although Mitani’s unforced errors certainly helped. She took an early 6-2 lead before entering the break with a formidable 11-3 lead.

Mitani did manage to reduce the deficit to six points just after the break, but Sindhu maintained her composure and won the final game 21-10 to enter the semi-finals of the Korea Open Superseries.

Sameer Verma exits

Sameer Verma’s campaign at the Korea Open came to an end after he lost to World No 1 Son Wan-Ho of Korea 20-22, 21-10, 21-13 in the quarter-finals.

Sameer Verma started the match well, fighting hard to win the first game. However, Son Wan-Ho easily won the next two games to move into the semi-finals.

Son Wan-Ho had previously beaten Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap to enter the quarter-finals.