Sindhu reaches Spain Masters final with straight-games win over Yeo Jia Min, HIGHLIGHTS

Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the 2023 Spain Masters semifinal in which India’s P V Sindhu beat Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min in straight games.

FILE PHOTO: India’s P V Sindhu takes on Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min in the Spain Masters semifinal in Madrid. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the 2023 Spain Masters semifinal in which India’s P V Sindhu beat Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min in straight games.. This was Nihit Sachdeva taking you through the action as it unfolded in Madrid.

P V Sindhu (IND) bt Yeo Jia Min (SGP) 24-22, 22-20 in 48 minutes

SECOND GAME

• 22-20: Another drive from Yeo Jia Min finds the net. Sindhu is through to her first final of the 2023 season!!!!
• 21-20: Yeo Jia Min drives one wide. Third match point for the Indian.
• 20-20: Sindhu nets a return and Yeo Jia Min has saved both match points.
• 20-19: Sindhu celebrates as she feels Yeo Jia Min’s cross-court return had landed wide. It has been called wide and she can do nothing about it. No challenges lift.
• 20-18: Two match points for the Indian.
• 19-18: Cross-court smash from Yeo Jia Min finds the net.
• 18-18: Not for long though as she drives one into the net.
• 17-18: Return from Sindhu finds the net. Four straight points for Yeo Jia Min and she leads.
• 17-17: Gorgeous drop shot from Yeo Jia Min to level the scores.
• 17-16: Another challenge from Sindhu as she lets Yeo Jia Min’s serve go, thinking it landed beyond the baseline but the umpire calls it in. The hawkeye proves the original call was correct.
• 17-15: Down-the-line drop shot from the back of the court from Sindhu. Called wide. The Indian wastes one of her challenges as well.
• 17-14: Drop shot from Sindhu. Yeo Jia Min falls to the ground in the attempt to retrieve it. She seems to have bruised her right knee. Doctor has been called to stop the bleeding.
• 16-14: Yeo Jia Min goes for the tightest of the cross-court net shots and the risk does not provide her the desired reward.
• 14-14: Parity restored. Drop shot from Yeo Jia Min hits the net but lands on her opponent’s side.
• 14-13: This time. Sindhu makes an unforced error. The cross-court smash goes wide. One-point game now.
• 14-11: After controlling the whole rally, Yeo Jia Min wastes it with a wide cross-court lift.
• 13-11: Drive from Yeo Jia Min finds the net.
• 12-10: Some relief for the Indian as she deceives her opponent with a cross-court drop.
• 11-10: Make that four in a row.
• 11-9: A powerful down-the-line smash from Yeo Jia Min to clinch her third straight point post the break.
• 11-7: Cross-court return from Sindhu lands well wide.
• 11-6: Sindhu enters the mid-game break with a solid five-point lead.
• 10-6: An awful error from Yeo Jia Min as she nets a simple smash.
• 9-6: Some confusion regarding whether the clear from Sindhu landed in or not. Both players are having a word with the umpire. As hawk-eye shows, it was long.
• 9-5: Four consecutive points for Sindhu. Tightening her grip on this final-four fixture.
• 7-5: Overhead smash from Yeo Jia Min is wide.
• 6-5: Beautiful drop shot down the line from Sindhu.
• 5-4: This time, Sindhu’s judgement is correct. The cross-court clear from Yeo Jia Min is long.
• 4-4: Careless net shot from Yeo Jia Min and the scores are level.
• 1-4: Sindhu misjudges the trajectory of Yeo Jia Min’s lift. Four consecutive points for the player from Singapore.
• 1-3: Cross-court drop shot from Sindhu lands wide.
• 1-0: Sindhu begins the second game by taking the opening point with a quick kill.

FIRST GAME

• 24-22: Sindhu takes the opener!!!!! Yeo Jia Min’s attempted drop shot only finds the net. Unbelievable comeback from the Indian.
• 23-22: Now then. Yeo Jia Min hits a cross-court smash wide. She challenger the call but the hawk-eye shows the original call is correct. Believe it or not, game point for Sindhu now!
• 22-22: Another brilliant body smash from Sindhu. Game point no. 7 saved.
• 21-22: Seventh chance for Yeo Jia Min as Sindhu’s return to Yeo Jia Min’s smash in the middle hits the top of the net.
• 21-21: Sixth game point saved by Sindhu, this time with a cross-court drop shot.
• 20-21: Cross-court drop shot out of nowhere in a longish rally from Yeo Jia Min, Sindhu dives to retrieve but the shuttle only finds the net.
• 20-20: Great body smash from Sindhu to save the fifth game point. Stunning.
• 19-20: The lift from Sindhu lands in, much to Yeo Jia Min’s dismay.
• 18-20: Yeo Jia Min hits two down-the-line smashes wide to waste two more.
• 16-20: Simple down-the-line smash from the Indian to save one game point.
• 15-19: A defensive drive shot from Yeo Jia Min after Sindhu’s body smash. As it turns out, the shuttle lands well inside the baseline.
• 15-17: A gorgeous cross-court backhand drop shot from Sindhu.
• 14-16: Superb down-the-line smash from the Indian to stay within touching distance.
• 13-15: Faulty net shot from Sindhu.
• 12-14: Sindhu judges correctly as Yeo Jia Min’s lift from the net lands beyond the baseline.
• 10-14: Yeo Jia Min putting the cross-court smash to good use.
• 9-13: Attempted drop shot from Sindhu falls on her own side. Four-point gap now.
• 9-11: Sindhu completely misses the cross-court smash from Yeo Jia Min. The Singapore shuttler goes into the mid-game interval with a two-point lead.
• 9-10: Net favours Yeo Jia Min as the shuttle hits the top of the tape and drops dead on Sindhu’s side.
• 9-9: Solid defending from Yeo Jia Min. Wins a point Sindhu would feel she should have won.
• 8-7: Quick overhead smash from Sindhu on Yeo Jia Min’s serve surprises the Singapore player and she reacts late.
• 6-6: Yeo Jia Min lets one smash down-the-line from Sindhu go, only to watch it land inside the baseline.
• 5-6: Beautiful crosscourt net shot from Yeo Jia Min.
• 4-4: Not for long though as a short lift from her allows Sindhu to hit a thunderous smash in the middle of the court.
• 3-4: Solid smash down the line from Yeo Jia Min who is back in front.
• 3-2: Attempted drop shot from the Indian only finds the net.
• 3-1: Three points on the trot for Sindhu.
• 0-1: Sindhu to serve first. First point goes to Yeo Jia Min who judges the flight of Sindhu’s lift correctly as the shuttle lands beyond the baseline.

7PM IST - Warm-up is done. Game time!

6:55PM IST - The wait is over. Next on Court 1 - women’s singles semifinal between P V Sindhu and Yeo Jia Min.

6:40PM IST - Sindhu vs Yeo Jia Min semifinal is scheduled to be played on Court 1. The match before it - the mixed doubles semifinal between Indonesian pair Praveen Jordan-Melati Oktavianti and Danish duo Mathias Thyrri-Amalie Magelund - has stretched to a third and final game.

6:25PM IST - The winner of the match between P V Sindhu and Yeo Jia Min will take on either home favourite and top seed Carolina Marin or Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the final.

6:10PM IST - The Spain Masters has been a part of the BWF World Tour since 2018 but no Indian has ever reached the final in Madrid in any category. Can Sindhu create history today?

PREVIEW

India’s P V Sindhu takes on Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min in the women’s singles semifinal of the 2023 Madrid Spain Masters, a BWF World Tour Super 300 event.

Sindhu has reached the semifinals of a tournament for the first time this season. The two-time Olympic medallist and former World champion began her campaign with a 21-10, 21-14 win over Swiss qualifier Jenjira Stadelmann. In the second round, the Indian shuttler beat Putri Kusuma Wardani 21-14, 21-16 to avenge her loss against the Indonesian from last week’s Swiss Open.

In the quarterfinals, Sindhu defeated Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt 21-14, 21-17.

Sindhu leads the head-to-head record 3-0 against Yeo Jia Min with their last meeting being the 2022 Commonwealth Games semifinal in Birmingham in which the Indian prevailed 21-19, 21-17.

When and where to watch?

The 2023 Spain Masters women’s singles semifinal between P V Sindhu and Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min will be streamed live on the BWF TV’s YouTube channel from 6:40PM IST.