PV Sindhu Loses in the Finals of Madrid Spain Masters to Tunjung in a Nerve-wracking Match

PV Sindhu – a double medal holder at the Olympics, loses for the first time to Tunjung at 21-8, 21-8 as the latter surprises at the court.

Written by: Arjita Gupta

Edited by: Krutarth Ghosalkar

Last Updated: 2023-04-03 09:20:52

With her graceful flicks and offensive tosses, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung overwhelmed PV Sindhu and threw her about the court like a yo-yo. The only consolation for the Indian was the match (21-8, 21-8) devastation at the Madrid Spain Masters on Sunday was swiftly finished since she was unable to understand her strokes. Tunjung dismissed Carolina Marin and Sindhu on consecutive days. And she had lightning speed possibly even after heavily strapped legs.

But it was sufficient to send a frantic Tunjung racing in defense, blunting all Indian ideas of attack. Tunjung pinned Sindhu by first aiming for the back corner of her forehand and then firing the clears and slicing down another flank, forcing PV Sindhu to bend and twist even more. Her relatively minimal chances of errors and monotonous strategy required the Indian to be present across the entire court simultaneously. Sindhu was compelled to run because of the diversity of her strokes.

Although Tunjung's trickery is not as impressive as Tai Tzu-Ying or Ratchanok's yet, she has undoubtedly expanded her skills since she last played Sindhu. PV Sindhu lost to Tunjung for the first time in eight matches after being taken aback by the strokes, even though a championship was on the line. Seldom is Sindhu utterly outplayed in every round and never gets a chance in the game.

On Sunday, however, Tunjung had her so occupied leaping low and to the edges that she hardly had time to get up and hit any slams of her own. She would temporarily attempt to increase the hand speed, but a delightful drop would be beyond of her reach, forcing her to once more engage in tedious retrieving without getting any opportunity to outshine.

In the first game, it was nonstop cross assaults from 1-5 to 6-11 to 7-17 to 8-21 while Sindhu went grabbing the shuttle with Tunjung in methodical calm dominance the entire time. 11 minutes were all it took to conquer the game. But, based on her fighting skills throughout the week, it was anticipated that she would change the situation in the second. Yet, Tunjung just switched directions and continued to serve fantastically. But Sindhu fell behind by a score of 1-6, 3-11, 6-19, and 8-21 to put a stop to her agony.