Badminton
'There’s a lot to learn, I’m happy I’m back on track': PV Sindhu after French Open defeat
At the French Open, Sindhu played three intense three-gamers in a row, displaying her regained fitness. Ahead of her All England Open campaign, Sindhu said there was a lot to learn from the French Open and move forward.
PV Sindhu in action during a BWF event.
On a comeback trail on the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour, PV Sindhu, the world no. 11, had to play three three-gamers in a row at the French Open Super 750 at the Adidas Arena in Paris this week.
Sindhu had been out of the World Tour since October last year when she sustained a left knee injury in the second round of the French Open.
Last month, she made a comeback to competitive badminton as she played a crucial role in India's historic Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) women's team title-winning performance in Malaysia.
She, however, suffered a defeat against Aya Ohori of Japan in India's 3-2 semifinal win.
At the French Open, she played three intense three-gamers in a row. While Sindhu successfully overcame the challenge of Michelle Li of Canada in 80 minutes in the opening round, she had to deal with tricky Beiwen Zhang in the second round. There too, Sindhu prevailed in a three-gamer, this time in 55 minutes.
In the quarterfinal, playing against world no. 2 Chen Yufei, the reigning Olympic champion from China, Sindhu stayed in the fight till the end in a 92-minute battle but lost 24-22,17-21,18-21.
In the closely battled first time, Sindhu and Yufei were at a level at 19-19, the two moved neck-and-neck till 22-22 before Sindhu converted a third game point opportunity by unleashing a superb forehand cross-court drop.
Yufei, however, rallied back and won 21-17, 21-18.
Though Sindhu lost in the quarterfinal, what was evident in her play at the tournament was her regained fitness. She did not show any sign of injury and fought valiantly.
“Physically I was fine. I’m doing well after coming back from injury. There were long matches and I could sustain. There’s a lot to learn, I’m happy I’m back on track. I wanted to see where I was. There’s a lot to learn and move forward," said Sindhu.
