Arctic Open: ‘I Never Lost Faith’
It took 15 months but Wang Zhi Yi never stopped believing she would return to a showpiece match at an HSBC BWF World Tour event.
· PREM KUMAR
When Wang stood next to Pusarla V. Sindhu on the podium as the Singapore Open runner-up in July last year, she could not have envisaged having to bide her time before contesting another final. Appearing in only one semifinal in 20 tournaments since, Wang would have been forgiven for allowing self-doubts to creep in. Instead, the 2022 Asian champion persevered.
At the Energia Arena on Saturday, fate had it that it would be Pusarla providing opposition again in the CLASH OF CLANS Arctic Open 2023 powered by YONEX semifinal. This time though, Wang was the victor.
“I was well prepared for this match. I watched Sindhu’s quarterfinal (win over Thuy Linh Nguyen) and some of her recent matches,” said Wang after her 21-12 11-21 21-7 win.