P V Sindhu raises hopes with consecutive wins in Tokyo games
Defeats Cheung to set up pre-quarterfinal clash with Denmark’s Blichfeldt
Hyderabad: Reigning World champion PV Sindhu took just 35 minutes to dispose of world No. 34 NY Cheung of Hong Kong 21-9 21-16 in a Group J match before booking a berth in the women’s pre-quarterfinals of the badminton event at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.
Sindhu, seeded sixth, lost only nine points in the first game but the Rio Olympics silver medallist said she found her rhythm late in the second game only. “I found my rhythm from the second game on and I finished it off. It was a fast game and I made a couple of unforced errors. I changed my tactics and got things under control. This type of test is important before a big match,” she said after the match.
Sindhu, who had defeated Ksenia Polikarpova of Israel in her opening match, will now clash with Denmark’s world number 12 Mia Blichfeldt, winner of Group I on Friday.
The Indian star predicted a tough match against the Danish player. “It’s not going to be an easy game. I need to recover well and come back stronger. I’ve played her a couple of times, every point is going to be important. She’s an aggressive player so I need to be aggressive as well,” she added.
Playing a well-calculated game, Sindhu put Cheung in trouble with well-placed shots. Covering the court well, Sindhu stormed off to a good lead in the first game.
Former National coach Bhaskar Babu said Cheung found it a bit difficult to handle the round the head cross court drops and half smashes. “She often caught her opponent with sharp cross court drops and half smashes,’’ he said.
In the second game, Cheung played a more aggressive game and forced Sindhu to commit a few unforced errors. It was tight and the Hong Kong shuttler went into an 11-10 lead. It went 14-14 before Sindhu took control of the match. She executed a brilliant down-the-line smash to take the lead and then sealed the game and the match with a good smash. “After the second game interval, Sindhu started her own attacking style and thereafter she dominated till the end of the match,’’ said Babu.
Meanwhile B Sai Praneeth’s campaign in the men’s singles ended with a second defeat when he was beaten by Netherlands’ Mark Caljouw 14-21, 14-21.
Praneeth, who lost to Misha Zilberman in his Group D match, had an outside chance of a last 16 berth if had beaten Caljouw by big margin to force a triple tie in the group. But a listless Praneeth surrendered meekly to Caljouw. In the event, Caljouw qualified from this group with two wins from two matches.
Also read: Olympics: Sindhu beats Cheung in straight games, enter pre-quarterfinals
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