Sindhu storms into Thailand Open final

World No.29 Gregoria stretched Sindhu in the first two games of the semi-final. Second seed Sindhu dug deep to win the first game 23-21 before losing the second game 16-21. Gregoria ran out of gas in the third, which Olympic 2016 silver medallist Sindhu comfortably won with a 21-9 margin.

Gregoria started strong, taking an 11-7 lead in the first game. After the mid-game break, Sindhu showed urgency in reducing the deficit to one with the Indonesian stranded at 11 points.

However, Gregoria continued her impressive start as she held a four-point advantage at 16-12.

Sending the need to come out all guns blazing, Sindhu stepped up her game and quickly eliminated the deficit at the 16-point mark.

Later, both Sindhu and Gregoria alternated a point each till the 21-point mark after which Sindhu sealed the game in style. In the second game, Sindhu continued from where she left as opened up a 9-5 lead. But the gutsy Indonesian came up with a seven-point streak to not only pull level at the nine-point mark but also to hold a 12-9 lead.

After Sindhu earned a point, Greogria enjoyed another brilliant phase as she bagged four consecutive points which gave her a 16-10 lead before pocketing the second game 21-16.

Sindhu, however, turned the heat in the third game. Starting strongly, she raced to a 5-1 advantage before Gregoria fought valiantly to reduce the gap to one point with the Indian leading 8-7.

Sindhu faces a tough battle in the final against Okuhara, who defeated United States seventh seed Beiwen Zhang 21-17, 21-10 in 34 minutes in the other semi-final.