PV Sindhu became the first Indian to reach the final of the Olympics as well as the World Championships after notching a 21-13, 21-10 win against Chinese teenager Chen Yufei in the semi-finals in Glasgow on Saturday. She will face Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in the final. Okuhara defeated Sindhu's compatriot Saina Nehwal 12-21, 21-17, 21-10 to progress to the final.
Sindhu, who lost to Chen at the Malaysia Open earlier this year, avenged that loss by a masterclass of high quality badminton that included smashes measured at over 300 kph alongwith a rare jump smash. The match ceased to be a contest after the opening ten minutes as Sindhu was completely dominant.
Chen took a 6-4 lead by showing sturdy defence and good control at the net at the beginning of the match. She made good use of the sliced drop shot to make the tall Sindhu lunge forward, opening up space in the back court in the process.
But Sindhu showed good composure and edged ahead at 10-8 after playing a powerful jump smash that left Pullela Gopichand impressed. She led by three points at the changeover and grew increasingly confident.
She played her trademark backhand kill to open up a five point lead at 14-9 as Chen struggled to match Sindhu's powerplay and higher pace of strokes. Chen's strokes became increasingly erratic towards the end of the opening game as she started hitting her lifts long, losing the game in just 22 minutes.
Playing the biggest match of her career, Chen could not do much as Sindhu put on a clinic of exceptional strokeplay, winning the first eight points in the second game. Playing with the drift behind her, Chen struggled to keep the shuttle in play and also made a couple of costly misjudgments where the shuttle comfortably landed in play.
The result was a mere formality once Sindhu led 11-1 at the changeover in the second game and the agony ended for Chen after 47 minutes as Sindhu played her best match of the tournament.
The head-to-head between Sindhu and Okuhara stands at 3-3 but Sindhu has won their last two meetings - in the semi-finals of the Rio Olympics and at the Singapore Open earlier this year.
Sindhu improved her head-to-head record against Chinese opponents at the World Championships to 6-0 with this win. She had previously defeated Wang Yihan, Wang Shixian (twice), Li Xuerui and Sun Yu.
This was Sindhu's third appearance in the semi-finals of the World Championships. On the other hand, 19-year-old Chen, who is the reigning junior World and Asian Champion, advanced to the semi-finals in her maiden appearance at the Worlds. She had progressed to the semis after defeating top seed Akane Yamaguchi and 2014 champion Ratchanok Intanon in the last two rounds.