Manila : Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu eked out a thrilling win over China's He Bing Jiao to enter the women's singles semifinals of the Badminton Asia Championships here on Friday.
With this win, Sindhu assured herself of a medal in the continental individual championships, which is making a return after a gap of two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fourth-seeded Sindhu, who had claimed a Bronze in the 2014 Gimcheon edition, got the better of the fifth seeded Chinese 21-9, 13-21, 21-19 in a quarterfinal match that lasted an hour and 16 minutes.
The 26-year-old from Hyderabad, who won two super 300 titles at Syed Modi International and Swiss Open, will face top seeded Japanese Akane Yamaguchi in the semifinals.
World number 7 Sindhu came into the match with a 7-9 head-to-head record against Bing Jiao, whom she had beaten twice in the last two meetings.
It was at the Tokyo Games that Sindhu had last played Bing Jiao on way to her Bronze at the Olympics and the Indian ace kept her nerves in the closing stages to once again emerge victories in a pulsating contest.
Top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan surged into the semi-finals after fighting back to defeat Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong.
Sixth-seeded Pornpawee romped to the first game 21-9 but the title-holder recovered to win the next two 21-15, 21-17 and wrap up the quarter-final in 55 minutes in Manila.
Yamaguchi will play Sindhu in the last four.
There was better luck for He's compatriot Wang Zhiyi after she defeated Taiwan's Wen Chi-hsu to book her spot in the other semi-final in the Philippine capital.
In a quarter-final between two unseeded players, world-ranked 16 Wang was a convincing 21-19, 21-9 winner in 34 minutes. (PTI)
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