Sindhu advances to third round with easy win

After getting a bye in the opening round of the competition, Sindhu defeated Pai 21-14, 21-15 in the second-round match that lasted for 42 minutes. Sindhu will next face Zhang Beiwen of America in the Round of 16 in what will be their 8th meeting.

The two players exchanged points early in the first game but it did not take too long for Sindhu to open up a good lead. With 4 straight points Sindhu took a 9-7 lead and widened it to 11-7 before going into the mid-game break.

Pai kept trying to catch up but Sindhu did not give the Taiwanese any window of opportunity to come any closer to her. It took Sindhu just 18 minutes to earn 6 game points opportunities and the Indian needed only one to convert on her serve and take a 1-0 lead.

Sindhu dominated in the beginning of the second game as she started out with 3-0 in her favour and soon raced into a 6-1 lead. However, some unforeseen errors from Sindhu helped Pai win three straight points. Some further lose game from Sindhu gave the Taiwanese shuttler a one-point lead at the lemon break.

However Sindhu got back into the groove post the break and showed aggressive play to take 18-13 lead and win six match points. After squandering the first one, the Indian converted her second match point to progress to third round of the competition.

It was PV Sindhu’s 6th appearance at the BWF World Championships and the Indian has been seeded every time she has played in the tournament. Sindhu has two back-to-back silver medals and as many bronze in the World Championships but a gold medal has so far eluded her.

Later in the day, former silver medallist Nehwal will take on Netherlands’ Soraya de Visch Eijbergen in the second round. Nehwal, too, received a bye in the opening round.