PV Sindhu gets past feisty Blichfeldt to make Swiss Open final
EPA/Bagus Indahono
Shaking off a wobbly start, PV Sindhu scythed past rising Dane Mia Blichfeldt to make her first final since the 2019 World Championships, with a 22-20, 21-10 win at the Swiss Open on Saturday. She will face an old foe, Olympic champion Carolina Marin, in the final. The Jakobshalle arena in Basel where the Super 300 event is being hosted incidentally was also the setting for the Indian's world title conquest.
Blichfeldt showed some strong resistance early in the first game, attacking Sindhu's front court and dictating rallies. There was sufficient reason for caution for Sindhu. In the first Thailand event this year following the pandemic pause, the 23-year old had wrung Sindhu dry in three games. She'd also run amok over Saina Nehwal's plans to make a record ninth World Championships quarterfinal appearance in 2019. From three points adrift in the mid-game interval, the reigning European Games champion smoked crosscourt forehands and spun deception into her service returns to go level at 17-17. The Dane saved three game points but Sindhu managed to put out the fires in time, dispatching a full-blooded smash to take the first game.