Sindhu with a Comeback to defeat Yan Hue to reach QF

In a display of fierce shots, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu staged a sensational comeback to knock out China's Han Yue in the round of 16 of the Denmark Open Super 750. Sindhu recovered from a first-game deficit to outplay the fourth seeded and World No.7, 18-21, 21-12, 21-16, in one gruelling match that lasted over an hour.

World No. 18 Indian shuttler entered the fray with a potent 6-1 head-to-head record against Han Yue but the match didn't quite go off on her terms.

In the first, Han's accuracy and strength put her in front 11-9 at the midpoint, and further out to 18-13 as Sindhu was unable to discover any semblance of pace. The poor loser then hung in to save four game points, but couldn't stop Sindhu from being overpowered by Han as she took the opener with a sizzling cross-court smash.

No quarter was given, Sindhu making a great fist of it in the second, going on to run three games in a row. Han's unforced errors mounted; Sindhu capitalized, leading 11-6 at the interval. Backed by renewed confidence, she played impeccably to take the rest of the set, closing it out 21-12 to force a decider.

This was also Han's game as Chinese took an 11-7 lead at one break. Sindhu shot back with a spirited fight. She won four successive points, one of them the most thrilling in a 29-shot rally that left the house on its feet. Down by 16-15, the Indian star pressed the top gear, winning six successive points to clinch the match and confirm her place in the quarterfinals.

Earlier in the tournament, Sindhu had a relatively easier outing in the first round, where she led 21-8, 13-7 against Chinese Taipei's Pai Yu Po before the latter retired from the match.

It has been an important turnaround for Sindhu, who had had disappointment going into the previous outing at the Arctic Open in Finland after being first-round ousted. Now back on the winning list, Sindhu is presented with a testing quarterfinal on Friday - she will take on either Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, who is the Paris Olympics bronze medallist, or Denmark's local favourite, Mia Blichfeldt.