PV Sindhu might have put it down to some lucky chords after her loss to the youngster, but Unnati Hooda will need some serious pluck when she plays Akane Yamaguchi in quarterfinals of China Open.
Hooda is already one of the youngest to make quarterfinals of a Super 1000 tournament (like a Grand Slam) at 17.8 years. But she needs to aim to go deeper into the tournament,and standing in her path is Japanese Akane Yamaguchi, seeded 3.
The former double World Champion has been on the wane against the topmost name An Se Young, but remains formidable, especially for those with a flat, patterned, predictable game like Busanan Ongbamrungphan who she swatted aside in round of 16.
Hooda must get used to schedules of early matches right after following tiring ones like against Sindhu, and runs the biggest risk of carrying forward that exhaustion, which afflicts most upcoming names not used to this grind. Yamaguchi is a pro at getting better as tournaments progress.
But she can be put under intense pressure with mixing up of strokes and staying precise but unpredictable. The Japanese tends to retrieve endlessly, and a second straight good defense day from Hooda will be needed. Dragging Yamaguchi into long rallies is counted as an achievement.
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Hooda after the big win against the domestic rival – also a former World champion – will need to stem the onslaught that Yamaguchi can calmly let loose. The Japanese will also not play under the sprt of pressure that Sindhu was under.
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Unnati Hooda, speaking on her win over PV Sindhu, had told BAI, “Playing against PV Sindhu is always a challenge, and today’s match was no exception. The rallies were long and grueling, but I managed to stay focused and composed under pressure. I’m happy of the way I gave it my all and won. It was a great test for me, and I’m looking forward to the next one.”
Yamaguchi is a waning star at 28, but this diminishing is hugely relative. From the previous generation, she remains the most consistent and her ranking drop merely means going from World No 3 to No 4, much tougher challenge than playing World No 15.
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