Sindhu ousts Intanon to enter final

P V Sindhu produced a straight-game win over 2013 World Champion Ratchanok Intanon at the USD 400,000 Hong Kong Super Series to seal a second successive final spot here on Saturday.

Last year's finalist, Sindhu moved well and seemed always ready for the shuttle. She dominated the frontcourt, defended well and maintained her attack to outclass the world No 6 Thai 21-17, 21-17 in a 43-minute women's singles match.

It was their sixth meeting and Sindhu was lagging 1-4 in the head-to-head count. The only time the Indian had beaten Intanon was at the 2015 Korea Open when the match went to the decider.

Sindhu will next face top seed and world No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying, hoping to emulate Saina Nehwal and Prakash Padukone, who had clinched this title in 2010 and 1982.

Sindhu countered the deceptive strokes of her rival with her better defence and attacking game plan.

In the opening game, Sindhu jumped to a 6-2 lead early on and continued her march ahead, despite some good-looking strokes from the Thai player.

A cross-court smash from the Indian left her opponent stranded and allowed Sindhu to grab an 11-7 lead after seven minutes of play. The Thai player went long a few times as Sindhu led 17-9. Intanon however fought back to reduce the gap before the Indian wrapped up the game when the Thai's backhand return went out.

In the second game, Intanon led early before Sindhu fought back and built a healthy advantage at the mid-game breather. Though the Thai kept fighting back, Sindhu never lost control over the game and sealed it when an Intanon shot went wide.