Fifth seed PV Sindhu, who has not won a title in two years, rallied her way to prevail 13-21 21-16 21-12 against world number 20 Busanan in a marathon semifinal
Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu on Saturday earned a shot at the Malaysia Masters crown after making it to the women’s singles finals with a come-from-behind win over Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan here. Fifth seed Sindhu, who has not won a title in two years, rallied her way to prevail 13-21 21-16 21-12 against world number 20 Busanan in a marathon semifinal that lasted 88 minutes to close in on the BWF World Tour Super 500 crown at the Axiata Arena.
Sindhu had won the 2022 Singapore Open and finished runner-up at Madrid Spain Masters last year.
It was her 18th win over Busanan, who has beaten the Indian only once in her career way back in 2019 Hong Kong Open.
World No. 15 Sindhu, who will eyeing her third Olympic medal at the Paris Games in two months time, now faces second seed and world no. 7 Wang Zhi Yi of China in the summit clash.
Sindhu had lost to Wang at the Arctic Open last year but has defeated the Chinese twice in three meetings.
A silver and bronze medallist in the last two editions of the Olympics, Sindhu seemed to have found her mojo back as she dished out some attacking badminton this week after looking out of sorts since making a comeback from a knee injury early this season.
It has been a while since Sindhu has defeated the big guns such as Carolina Marin, Tai Tzu Ying, Chen Yu Fei and Akane Yamaguchi — whom she is expected come across during the Paris Olympics.
The Indian badminton player beat Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan to make the final at the Super 500 tournament. Sindhu’s last title came at the 2022 Singapore Open.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu made the Malaysia Masters 2024 badminton women’s singles final after a come-from-behind win over Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
PV Sindhu, 15th in the latest badminton world rankings, defeated world No. 20 Ongbamrungphan 13-21, 21-16, 21-12 in one hour and 28 minutes to reach her first final on the BWF World Tour since the Spain Masters in April last year, where she lost to Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung.
In the final, the Indian badminton player will face the People’s Republic of China’s second seed Wang Zhi Yi, who beat compatriot Wang Yi Man, the sixth seed, in the other semi-final encounter.
Incidentally, Sindhu had defeated Wang Zhi Yi in the final to claim her last BWF World Tour title back in Singapore Open 2022.
In her top four clash, PV Sindhu held her own in the early exchanges and was trailing by just a single point at 9-10 before Ongbamrungphan seized the initiative with six back-to-back points and went on to pocket the first game with relative ease.
However, the Indian badminton player responded in style in the next game. Despite trailing 7-5 early on, Sindhu bounced back to draw level and set up a deciding game in the contest.
Riding on the momentum, the 28-year-old Sindhu didn’t concede the lead even once in the third game and sealed her 18th victory over Ongbamrungphan in 19 meetings.
Sindhu is the last Indian badminton player still alive at the Malaysia Masters.
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