Madrid Spain Masters: Sindhu storms into the final with thrilling win

Madrid, April 1:  India's two-time Olympic medallist and former World Champion P.V Sindhu stormed into the final of the Madrid Spain Masters 2023, beating Yeo Jia Min of Singapore in a thrilling semifinal here on Saturday.

Sindhu, who had failed to progress beyond the second round in the BWF World Tour events she competed in so far, reached her first final of the 2023 season as she gathered momentum as she had missed the entire second half of the 2022 season after suffering an injury during in Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in August.

The 27-year-old from Hyderabad prevailed over her opponent from Singapore 24-22,22-20 winning the closely-fought encounter in 48 minutes.

In the final Sindhu, winner of a silver medal in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and bronze in Tokyo 2020, will face the winner of the other semifinal between top-seed Carolina Marin of Spain and Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia.

Sindhu saved three game points to eventually win the first game in extra points. The Indian shuttler, ranked 11th in the BWF rankings, started slowly as her opponent quickly raced to a 13-8 lead in the first game. However, Sindhu fought back to reduce the deficit to 15-17.

Yeo Jia Min made it 20-17 but could not capitalise on it as Sindhu saved three game points before taking the first game.

Sindhu carried the momentum in the second game, taking a slender lead only to see Yeo Jia Min fight back and level the score at 17-17. Thereafter, Sindhu stepped up her game once again to seal the match in 48 minutes.

Sindhu is the only Indian shuttler remaining in the fray in the Madrid Spain Masters 2023 as Kidambi Srikanth was ousted in the men's singles quarterfinals.