Fuzhou: PV Sindhu has eased her way past teenaged Chinese shuttler Chia Hsin Lee 21-12, 21-16, to enter the second round of the prestigious China Open, in Fuzhou, China on Wednesday.
The world no. 11 went into the match as the overwhelming favourite against her Chinese counterpart, after having one of her best years on the circuit.
It was Lee however, who got off to a good start in the first game, to race into a 4-2 lead.
Realising the importance of not letting her 19-year-old opponent get too big a lead, Sindhu stepped on the gas, to score a couple of quick points. Once she had the momentum on her side, Sindhu breezed through, to take a massive 19-12 lead. From then on, it was just a formality before the 2016 Olympics silver medallist clinched the first game.
Lee again made a decent start to the second game, racing into a 3-1 lead at the start, but much like the first one, Sindhu soon got the momentum on her side, and raced into a massive 15-8 lead.
Lee did make a bit of a comeback towards the end, to take the scores 14-17 in Sindhu’s favour, but the 21-year-old Indian managed to finish off her opponent in the end, taking the second game 16-21.
Saina bows out on injury return
Meanwhile, world no.6 Saina Nehwal crashed out of the tournament, after losing her first round match 16-21, 21-19, 14-21 to Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand, on Wednesday.
The ace 26-year-old shuttler went off into a 6-4 lead in the first game, but her Thai counterpart made a good comeback to level the score at 6-6, and then shoot into the lead.
Game 1 of the match was as close as it could get, with the two players squaring the scores at 13-13, 14-14, and then at 16-16. However, Saina’s lack of match fitness was clear for everyone to see, as Porntip raced forward from this point, to clinch the first game 21-16.
The ace Indian shuttler was not about to give in though, as she fought her way back in the second game. Having gone 4-11 down, Saina did well to take the lead at 19-18 in the second game. She managed to clinch game 21-19 from that point.
Although game three started off in a very competitive manner, it was pretty clear that Saina did not have much left in the tank after drawing level at 10-10. Porntip surged into a 15-11 lead from that point on, and went on to clinch the decider 21-14.
Saina has been struggling with a knee injury this season, and had to go under the knife, earlier this year. While she bowed out of the China open in the first round in itself, the fighting spirit that she showed will please the Indian fans.
