The highest-ranked European women’s singles player at the Olympics won group I without breaking a sweat. Mia Blichfeldt will now face Pusarla V. Sindhu in what could be a thriller in the elimination rounds.
The number 13 seed Dane (unlucky for some) defeated Bulgaria’s Linda Zetchiri to win her group in less than half an hour of play, 21-10, 21-3.
- I really enjoyed myself on the court. I found a good level and I was calm, so it was fun, stated Blichfeldt.
Sindhu in group J was able to follow suit through a two-game victory over Cheung Ngan Yi, 21-9, 21-16.
Best of three
Despite the minimal amount of tournaments in 2021 and the lead-up to the Olympics, Blichfeldt has faced Sindhu twice in this time. At the Thailand Open, the determined Dane scored her first win over the defending Olympic silver medallist. It took 74 minutes of hard gruelling work, but the win was recorded – 16-21, 26-24, 21-13.
Sindhu was able to set the record straight at the Swiss Open semifinal a few months later, winning 22-20, 21-10. The tall Indian then lost to Marin in a perplexing final, 21-12, 21-5. Perhaps a telling reflection on her inconsistency of late.
However, the reigning World Champion always seems to elevate her level the bigger the tournament and there is no bigger one than this. She changed her training location to play at a hall that has similar conditions to the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza and it’s so far so good. It will be a tall order for Europe’s biggest hope in the category, but as was shown in a similarly slow hall in Thailand, it’s not an insurmountable one.
- Mentally I'm ready for another good fight, says a smiling Blichfeldt.