The Asian Age

Sindhu saunters into Last 8 stage

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Tokyo, July 29: Reigning badminton world champion P. V. Sindhu sailed into the women’s singles quarterfin­als at the Tokyo Olympics with a straightga­me triumph over Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt here on Thursday.

The 26-year-old Indian, who won a silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics, completed a 21-15, 21-13 win over 13th seed Blichfeldt in a 41-minute match.

“I started off well in the first game but around 15-16 I gave a couple of points because I was rushing in my defence. My coach was telling me that

I was playing the wrong way and I realised that and I immediatel­y changed my tactics and completed the first game,” Sindhu said after the match.

Sindhu will next face Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, who defeated Korea’s Kim Gaeun 21-17, 21-18 in another pre-quarterfin­al.

The sixth seeded Indian has a 11-7 head-to-head count against the Japanese world No. 5, whom she had last beaten at the All England Championsh­ip in March this year.

Sindhu mixed her strokes well, putting her attacking clears and drops to good use besides smashing her way to finish points whenever there was a chance.

She anticipate­d the shuttle better and showed good court coverage.

Blichfeldt did have her moments but she was too erratic to sustain the pressure on the Indian, who was always a step ahead of her rival during the contest.

Blichfeldt had a 2-0 lead early on but Sindhu soon took back control at 6-4 and kept her nose ahead before unleashing a cross court smash to enter the interval with a healthy 11-6 lead.

The Danish shuttler scripted a mini comeback, winning six of the next seven points, riding on a few smashes and Sindhu’s unforced errors.

An unlucky net chord broke the run of points but Blichfeldt sent down two straight smashes to again narrow it to 14-16 before succumbing to a series of unforced errors.

The Indian revved up the pace in the second game to zoom to 5-0 but a wrong line judgement from her ended the run of points.

Blichfeldt tried to find an opening but Sindhu was always a step ahead as she again held a five-point advantage at the break.

After the break, Sindhu lost a few points but she soon wrapped it up with a delicate shot.

 ?? — AFP ?? P. V. Sindhu acknowledg­es cheers as she leaves the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza arena after defeating Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt in the women’s singles Round of 16 match in Tokyo on Thursday.
— AFP P. V. Sindhu acknowledg­es cheers as she leaves the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza arena after defeating Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt in the women’s singles Round of 16 match in Tokyo on Thursday.
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