PV Sindhu is known to be a slow starter, especially in the early rounds of tournaments. But even by her standards, trailing 2-11 at the mid-game interval against world No. 35 Manami Suizu was worrying. Sindhu struggled to handle the sharp body attacks, Suizu’s smashes were precise on the flanks, and Sindhu’s own lacked their usual bite. Nothing seemed to click.
That changed immediately after the interval. A perfectly placed low service return drew Suizu to the net, forced a loose lift, and allowed Sindhu to hammer a crosscourt round-the-head smash. In the rallies that followed, she began moving Suizu to all four corners of the court. That pattern defined her comeback as Sindhu clinched a hard-fought 22-20, 21-18 victory in 53 minutes in the opening round of the Indonesia Masters Super 500 in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The defining phase of the match came when Sindhu saved four game points at 16-20 in the opener. Staying calm and trusting the adjustments she had made, she reeled off six straight points to steal the game. The second game was more comfortable as she built a 17-9 lead, though she still had to fend off a late surge from Suizu. Sindhu next faces world No. 18 Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt, against whom she has a 5-1 head-to-head record, though she lost their most recent meeting in 2025.
Tanvi Sharma, however, suffered heartbreak in a clash of rising teenage stars against world No. 9 Tomoka Miyazaki. The 17-year-old Indian, who impressed against world No. 2 Wang Zhi Yi at the India Open last week, once again pushed a top-10 opponent but faded in the decider. After a superb opening game in which she kept Miyazaki guessing, Tanvi narrowly lost the second and even led 13-11 in the third before going down 21-18, 18-21, 16-21 in a gripping 68-minute contest against the 19-year-old Japanese player.
Anmol Kharb was the other Indian winner in women’s singles, while Srikanth Kidambi and Lakshya Sen advanced after tough three-game matches in men’s singles. Anmol, coming through the qualification rounds, beat Chinese Taipei veteran Pai Yu Po 21-16, 21-17 in 42 minutes and will next face former world champion Nozomi Okuhara.
Srikanth, playing world No. 24 Koki Watanabe, took the opening game comfortably but was stretched in the next two before prevailing 21-15, 21-13, 24-22, saving a match point. He will now face fellow veteran Chou Tien Chen. Later, Lakshya Sen looked set for a straight-games win after a sharp start and a 13-5 lead against Wang Tzu Wei, but a lapse allowed the match to go the distance. Sen eventually sealed the contest 21-13, 16-21, 21-14. Sen faces Hong Kong China’s Jason Gunawan in the round of 16 on Thursday.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
