Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu on Thursday ended her six-match losing streak against world number one Tai Tzu Ying as she defeated the Taiwanese shuttler in their group stage clash of the ongoing World Tour Finals tournament.
Sindhu, whose last victory against Tai Tzu had come two years ago at the Rio Olympics, registered a convincing 14-21, 21-16, 21-18 victory against the Taiwanese in a match that lasted one hour and one minute.
The first game saw Sindhu committing some sporadic errors at various stages resulting in her failure to maintain the momentum. She, however, changed her tactics in the latter half of the opening game by adopting a softer approach towards Tai Tzu's deceptive shots. The strategy worked for the Indian shuttler as she gained some quick points to narrow the point difference.
Tai Tzu, however, played some wristy shots to get better off Sindhu and clinched the opening game 21-14.
Heading into the second game, Sindhu maintained an aggressive approach right from the beginning. With the scoreline reading 6-4 in Sindhu's favour, the Taiwanese shuttler made a comeback and engaged the Indian player in some long rallies. The Rio-Olympics silver-medallist responded with a similar degree of energy as she took an 11-6 lead in the game.
With the help of some smashing hits and body shots, Sindhu managed to take the game 21-16.
Tai Tzu, who was reportedly suffering from an injury, perplexed Sindhu with a 3-0 beginning in the deciding game. Sindhu looked clueless against the precise game played by Tai Tzu. Momentum shifted when the Indian shuttler played some superb crosscourt smashes and made her opponent commit some unforced errors. Sindhu was in the lead for the first time in the match and she did a good job to maintain it till the end.
Sindhu rushed into the match with some quick points and registered a comprehensive 21-18 win in the deciding game.
In men's singles event, India's Sameer Verma also advanced further into the tournament after beating Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia 21-16, 21-7 in their Group stage match.
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