Denmark Open 2023: PV Sindhu overpowers Supanida Katethong in straight-games to reach first Super 750 semifinal of the year

The resurgent Indian wins in dominant fashion, with a 21-19, 21-12 scoreline against the Thai southpaw.

This will be Sindhu’s fifth semifinal of the year but the first at a Super 750 level tournament, the second highest rung of events in the BWF World Tour. (Twitter/BAI Media)

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In an all-round display of power and persistence, PV Sindhu defeated Thailand’s Supanida Katethong in straight-games on Friday to reach the semifinals at the Denmark Open in Odense. She was a finalist at Odense in 2015, and will hope to go one better over the weekend.

The Indian won 21-19, 21-12 in 47 minutes against a left-handed opponent who has troubled her in the past. The Indian was 1-3 against southpaws (Supanida, He Bingjiao and Carolina Marin) in 2023 going into this match and has restored normalcy of dominance with this win. Sindhu has lost twice in the last two editions of the Indian Open against world No 19 Katethong but has now improved the record to 4-2 in six meetings.

Awaiting Sindu in the semifinal is a familiar foe (and friend) in Carolina Marin, as the Rio 2016 champion defeated Tai Tzu Ying in a thrilling semifinal 19-21 21-15 21-18. Sindhu and Marin have met 15 times in the past, and the Spaniard leads 10-5. In the last couple of years though, they have met just once with Marin winning earlier in the season against Sindhu at the Malaysia Open in a three-game affair. Incidentally, one of Sindhu’s earliest matches against Marin also came at the Denmark Open in 2015 when the Indian won.

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This will be Sindhu’s fifth semifinal of the year but the first at a Super 750 level tournament, the second highest rung of events in the BWF World Tour.

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Sindhu started the match a bit tentatively with a few unforced errors, especially not judging the length of the shuttles on offence or defence. But she grew in confidence as the opening game went on and nailed a round-the-head crosscourt smash winner to take a 11-8 lead into the interval. When Sindhu is comfortable with that shot, it usually is a sign that she is in good rhythm.

And so it proved as she opened up a 19-12 lead in game one, helped also by Katethong struggling to control her errors. But the Thai shuttler started closing the gap, buoyed by the very vocal Kim Ji Hyun on her coaching chair. Kim, incidentally, has coached Sindhu in the past and was in the chair along with Pullela Gopichand when the Indian famously won gold medal in Basel at the World Championships in 2019.

The game got nervy as Katethong made it 17-19 but Sindhu got a review right at a critical time to earn three game points, eventually converting the third.

The second game, however, was more comfortable for the Indian as she opened up a 11-9 lead after some good early exchanges. Post the interval, the Indian started to pull away, and in the space of couple of points showed both her attacking skills with relentless smashing, and defensive skills to frustrate her opponent in the longest rally of the match. Katethong didn’t have a way back in from there as the Indian let out a roar to clinch the match.

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With both players still trying to return to their consistent best after injuries, the semfinal against Marin on Saturday will be a good test to gauge where Sindhu is on her comeback trail.