3 min readUpdated: Jul 18, 2026 09:17 AM IST
A belligerent PV Sindhu ran through 2021 Olympic champion Chen Yufei before the Chinese pulled out of the way with hamstring troubles, giving the Indian a 21-19, 15-10 (retd) victory. The Indian 31-year-old made her first final of the season, an impressive one at that, at a Super 750 event.
It was scorching play, start to end for Sindhu, whose enduring and improving fitness has seen her capable of deploying speed-bombs that explode on opponents. The Chinese was first rattled, then razed down, before she resigned unable to put up with Sindhu’s steady stream of attack, enabled by her hand speed. The Sindhu hand speed is a marvel at play — at 31, she can consistently hit 3-4 shots from full vertical stretch. What brought the Chinese down was her own decision to poke and play flat exchanges quickly feeding that windmill hand speed – copping a defeat after 7 years.
Sindhu was always in command in the 44-minute duel, as she used her drops from the back court to lethal effect. Coach Irwansyah has convinced her that even her biggest weapon, the smash, can be used as a set-up for the eventual winner, a net drop. The smash pinned Yufei to the back court, hesitant to come up front fearful of the blazing deep smash. The Chinese could defend the smashes, but it was the quick summoning to the front court to respond to Sindhu drops that took Yufei apart. And eventually, aggravated the hamstring as she was yo-yoed front and back.
Leading 11-7, Sindhu had set herself a good base. The early lead came from straight belligerent smashes to Yufei’s far forehand corner – controlled impeccably by the Indian World No 10.
The Chinese did well to return from 11-16 down to level at 19-19. Sindhu had won a 51-shot rally for 18-16, but Yufei toggled Sindhu back and front and sent the shuttle to the backcourt, trying to flip the momentum. She reached 19-19, but a skilled racquet-face turning drop to the forecourt gave Sindhu the set point.
Sindhu has the set-up smashes, but she has the original no-holds-barred smash too, which she targeted at Yufei’s hand and shoulder, with wind-cutting speed. In short, unreturnable.
Yufei was broken by that first set reversal, and started 0-3 down in the second. She got to within 7-8 but could never snatch the lead in the second. Struggling to move, and forced to do that exactly by Sindhu, the Chinese fell back and eventually retired clutching her leg.
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Sindhu thus broke a 5-match losing streak against the Chinese, dating back to 2019 when she last beat her 21-7, 21-14 on way to her World Championship. It is mind boggling that Sindhu’s fitness can reach same blazing standards, even while Yufei, 28, has struggled to nail down the World title, seven years later.
