By Madhurima Ghosh –
PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy made to the women’s and men’s finals respectively at the Swiss Open Super 300 badminton tournament 2022 on Saturday, 26th March
Double Olympic medalist Pusarla Venkata Sindhu won over Thailand’s Supanida Katethong in a 79-minute women’s singles semi-final to grab her title for the season. On the other hand, Prannoy was defeated against Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in a 48-minute men’s singles and ended up in runners up position.
Next to Saina Nehwal who won in 2011 and 2012, PV Sindhu is the second Indian woman to win the Swiss Open title. It was great victory for Sindhu as she lost to Rio Olympics gold medalist Carolina Marin of Spain in the finals of the previous edition. It is to be mentioned that PV Sindhu also won the Syed Modi International Super 300 this year in January in Lucknow. That is the 26-year-old has claimed two titles in just span of two months. She was the winner of the World Championship Gold in 2019.
In the final of Swiss Open 2022, smashes of Sindhu’s racket were so high paced that Busanan could barely keep up, especially in the second game. The Thai took the path of deception at the net but could not get away with the Ace Indian Shuttler. In the first game, Busanan tried putting up some fight but became almost a spectator in the next. PV Sindhu made eight points to reach 20-4—to hold an incredible 16 championship points.
It took 19 months for Sindhu to reach 2021 Swiss Open finals and 29 months to win a 2022 Syed Modi after becoming the 2019 World Championship. Though both the events won by her this year were Super 300, it seems India’s highest-ranked player has bounced back and regained her winning spree in a crucial year. A year that is followed by Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the world championships.