India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu marched into the round of 16 at the ongoing Asian Games after a strong 21-19, 21-14 win over Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Pin-chian in the second round of the women’s singles at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium here on Saturday.
Sindhu, a two-time Asian Games medallist, made light work of Pin-chian despite trailing in the first game. She was trailing 10-11 at the break in the first game but came back to bid for a lead. She saw two game points go away in the first game, but eventually clinched the opener on her third game point for a 1-0 lead.
The Olympic double medallist then settled much more into the rhythm in the second game. She took an 11-7 lead into the second game break and did not let the momentum slip away as she clinched the second game 21-14.
Sindhu will now be up against Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki in the round of 16, scheduled to take place later in the day. Sindhu-starrer India had lost to Japan in the Women’s Team quarterfinals earlier at the ongoing Games.
Meanwhile, Sindhu will also look to bag a medal at the Asiad this time around after she returned empty-handed from the Hangzhou Games, where she was eliminated in the women’s singles quarterfinals.
Earlier in the day, Unnati Hooda defeated Malaysia’s Wong Ling Ching in the second round 21-14, 20-22, 21-9. She will face Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani in the round of 16 on Saturday, with the singles players scheduled to play twice in a single day.
Ayush Shetty outclassed Kazakhstan’s Makhsut Tajibullayev in his second-round outing 21-7, 21-7 and will face Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen in what will be a tough outing for the Indian shuttler.
Lakshya Sen was knocked out in the men’s singles after his second-round defeat to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew 12-21, 21-15 and 14-21.
