Malaysia: Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu made a winning return from a lengthy injury lay-off as India stunned formidable China 3-2 in the women’s competition of the Badminton Asia Team Championships here on Wednesday.
Sindhu took little time to dispatch her Chinese opponent, winning the rubber 21-17, 21-15. The Indian star was sidelined for more than three months due to a knee injury.
India claimed the tie 3-2 with 16-year-old Anmol Kharb producing a stunning three-game win over Luo Yu Wu in the deciding singles rubber.
Earlier, India suffered back-to-back defeats to trail 2-1 but Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand fought back to beat Li Yi and Lou Xu (10-21, 21-18, 21-17) in the second doubles rubber.
Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa lost to Liu Sheng and Tan Ning (19-21, 16-21) in the first doubles rubber while Ashmita Chaliha surrendered to Wang Zhi Yi (13-21, 15-21) in the second singles.
In the decider, national champion Kharb took the first game 22-20 only to concede the second 14-21. But the Haryanvi teenager showed nerves of steel to seal the third game 21-18, and her team a 3-2 win against their traditional rivals.
For the record, each tie in the group stages will consist of five rubbers — three singles and two doubles. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals. Interestingly India and China are the only teams in Group W and both will progress to the knockouts.
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