There’s a 7:43 long video on YouTube, titled ‘The MOST FURIOUS Badminton Match of 2023’ which has more than 4.7 million views. The description adds: “What happened between these so-called ‘best friends’?” The match in question was the women’s singles semifinal at Denmark Open. The ‘so-called best friends’ are, of course, PV Sindhu and Carolina Marin.
On Thursday at Singapore Open Super 750, they will take the court once again after that ill-tempered clash last October at Jyske Bank Arena. Water may have flown under the bridge, at least going by their social media posts since then, but there will be a definite edge. The screams will return from both sides, the big points will be celebrated with a roar, the shuttles will become the center of attraction even after the points are over. Bring out the popcorn.
Both Sindhu and Marin had winnable first-round fixtures, and the round-of-16 matchup appeared highly likely when the draw was made. Marin overcame the gritty Malaysian Goh Jin Wei 22-20, 21-18 seconds after Sindhu sealed her win against Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt 21-12, 22-20.
The Indian though had to dig deep to seal it in straight games. Marin would have had one eye on this court as her win seemed imminent, whereas the Dane opened up a 20-16 advantage against Sindhu in Game 2.
Sindhu came to Singapore after spending 327 minutes on court during her runners-up finish last week in Malaysia. She has mentioned that she feels back to her physical best, but playing a potentially draining three-game first-round match a day before taking on Marin would have set her back even before a shuttle was hit in anger. And so Sindhu stepped on the gas, reeling off six straight points from 16-20 down to close out the match against Kjaersfeldt in straight games.
Fiesty clash in Denmark
In their 16-match head-to-head that stretches all the way back to 2011, Sindhu and Marin have often been involved in thrilling clashes, but that day in Odense, things reached a boiling point. Marin has had the better of the results over the years (leading 11-5 and most famously beating Sindhu to win gold at Rio Olympics) but Sindhu has never been one to shy away from a fight against the Spaniard.
From the first game in Denmark, there was tension in the air, with Marin aggressively roaring and Sindhu responding too. The umpire issued warnings to both, asking them to tone down their celebrations, but it had little effect. Marin’s tendency to serve before her opponent was ready, eventually got to Sindhu. With Marin leading 8-2 in the decider, Sindhu decided to give it back verbally. “She’s shouting, so I am allowing her to shout,” she’d tell the umpire as she took a couple of steps back when Marin took her time to serve. “After she stops I’ll be ready.”
Then Marin tried to do that thing where she rushes to the net to retrieve the shuttle after a point to keep the pace going if the momentum is on her side. Sindhu decided she’s not going to let that happen, so she too took a late decision to contest the dead shuttle. Rackets clashed. Angry words were exchanged. Sindhu was adamant the shuttle was on her side so Marin had no business reaching towards the other side. And finally, both players received yellow cards for unsportsmanlike conduct. It became the talk of the badminton community.
Marin eventually coasted to a 21-7 scoreline in the decider but Sindhu showed enough sparks in the two first games.
After the match, Sindhu posted on Instagram: “I’d like to request everyone not to spread hate. Emotions run high in the heat of the moment, but hating is not the solution.”
“Both of us were fighting to win that game but on my side, I never wanted to fight against you personally. In front of everyone SORRY to show this kind of behaviour. See you soon mate!” replied the former Olympic champion. Sindhu agreed, “Things happen in the heat of the moment, Carolina.” A couple of friendly Instagram photos followed in the weeks to come as well.
And so here we are, at the end of May, with the Olympic Games on the horizon, the two ‘so-called friends’ going at it again. Sindhu believes, on the back of her run in Kuala Lumpur, that she is moving well again. But no one will test her courtcraft more than Marin, with her up-tempo aggression during and between points. Sindhu perhaps was guilty of getting sucked into that vortex that day in Odense (who can blame her?) but she’ll know that standing up to Marin in terms of aggression is perhaps the easier part of it. Matching the lefty’s gameplay and countering her pace with clever changes of tempo will matter more.
Lakshya pushes Axelsen
In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen overcame a slow start to push world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen to the distance but eventually bowed out 21-13 16-21 21-13. In the latter half of the second game and at the start of the decider, Lakshya had Axelsen searching for answers with his use of slices, reverse slices, and half smashes crosscourt being put to good use. But the Great Dane eventually outmuscled Lakshya in the endgame. Axelsen’s huge celebration in the end was a measure of how much Lakshya had pushed him on the day, for only the second time their matchup resulted in a three-game affair. In defeat, there were positives to take for the Indian as he gears up for Paris.
HS Prannoy, who came through a three-game battle against Belgium’s Julien Carraggi, is the last Indian standing in men’s singles. In women’s doubles, Paris-bound Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto were stunned by world No. 85 Polina Buhrova and Yevheniia Kantemyr but Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand prevailed in straight games to stay in contention.
