P V Sindhu celebrates after winning her pre-quarter match against Li Xuerui. (Source: AP) P V Sindhu celebrates after winning her pre-quarter match against Li Xuerui. (Source: AP)

The Chinese seem to have no answers to PV Sindhu. At the Guangzhou Worlds 2013 it was Yihan Wang, at Copenhagen 2014 it was Shixian Wang, and at Jakarta 2015, it is the turn of the greatest of them all Xuerui Li, Olympic champion and former World No. 1 who has been dumped out of the World Championship. In a top-quality pre-quarterfinal game where Sindhu dominated the Chinese at every step of the way, the 21-17, 14-21, 21-17 victory was a resounding assertion of how much the Indian World No. 11 has gotten inside Chinese heads.

At the end of the 50 minutes, Chinese coach Chen Jin had agony written all over his face. Sindhu’s control of the shuttle as she pulled off a high risk game of playing to the corners and baseline and getting points off shots that skimmed the lines along with the court drift had upset Xuerui’s calculations completely.

India national coach Pullela Gopichand fist-pumped at the other end soon after Sindhu out-witted, out-ran, out-powered the Chinese World No 3, denying her a chance at the championship that has always eluded her.

Sindhu was coming off an injury lay-off that has kept her away from the courts for four months this year, but she moved brilliantly on court today, using the lifts to the back of the court precisely and showed steady nerves and precision when playing her smashes even as she drew errors from Xuerui in a tactical battle.

Sindhu ended with 56 points and Xuerui with 55, but the pressure of Sindhu’s game during which she upped her aggression yet kept laser control over where she placed the shuttles, stunned Xuerui who could not stem her errors.

The mental confidence that Sindhu enjoyed after having broken the Chinese barrier in her first ever Worlds bronze at Guangzhou continues to elevate her game. Next up – albeit in the quarters – could be Korean Sun Ji Hyun (against whom the Indian enjoys a 3-1 advantage).

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