PV Sindhu makes impressive start at Tokyo Olympics

REIGNING badminton world champion PV Sindhu made an authoritative launch of her campaign at Tokyo Olympics on Sunday (25), beating Israel’s Ksenia Polikarpova 21-7, 21-10 in a one-sided game in the women’s singles Group J game at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza in Chofu, Tokyo.

Sindhu, who won a silver at the Rio Olympics four years ago, said after the match that though it was an easy first match, she did not take it in an easy way. “It wasn't like I wasn't prepared. Every time, it is very important to be focused and be prepared for every single point in every single match,” the 26-year-old, seeded sixth, said after beating her 58th-ranked opponent.

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“It was quite an easy match but I made sure that we had some rallies and I got used to the court,” she added.

Sindhu will next play Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi, world No.34, in her next and concluding game of the group.

Ksenia Polikarpova (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP) (Photo by PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images)

Sindhu started with an attacking game against her Israeli opponent but briefly trailed 3-4. But Polikarpova’s unforced errors saw her returning into the game quickly and she entered the break with an 11-5 lead.

It’s not going to be easy, says PV Sindhu

The Indian was on a roll soon, bagging 13 straight points. She used her trademark straight and cross-court smashes and drops to trouble her opponent who failed to utilise the opportunities that came her way.

On her approach to playing a lower-ranked opponent, Sindhu said, “I think it’s important to make sure that you play all of your strokes and get used to them. All of a sudden if you're playing with a higher-ranked player or a stronger opponent, it's not that you can just play that type of strokes, it's important to get used to the situations also.”

On Saturday (24), Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Ranireddy and Chirag Shetty stunned the world No.3 duo of Yang Lee and Chi-Lin Wang of Chinese Taipei 21-16, 16-21, 27-25.

However, B Sai Praneeth lost to world No.47 Misha Zilberman of Israel in a men’s singles Group D game.