PV Sindhu enters pre-quarters of China Open, Saina bows out

The third-seeded Indian defeated World No. 39 Saena Kawakami of Japan 21-15, 21-13 in the opening round at the Olympic Sports Center Xincheng Gymnasium.

Olympic and world championship silver-medallist P V Sindhu Tuesday progressed to the pre-quarterfinals of the USD one million China Open World Tour Super 1000 tournament here.

India's Pusarla Venkata Sindhu hits a return towards China's Gao Fangjie during their women's second round match at the Japan Open badminton championships in Tokyo on September 13, 2018. (AFP)

The third-seeded Indian defeated World No. 39 Saena Kawakami of Japan 21-15, 21-13 in the opening round at the Olympic Sports Center Xincheng Gymnasium.

The match started out as a close contest with Sindhu and Saena before the Indian broke off to grab a 13-7 lead at one stage. She kept dominating the rallies and pocketed the opening game without much trouble.

In the second game, Sindhu zoomed to a 6-0 lead but Saena managed to make it 8-10 before the Indian entered the interval with a slender 11-9 lead.

After the break, Sindhu jumped to 15-11 before grabbing eight match points at 20-12 and sealed it comfortably.

But there was heartbreak for senior pro Saina Nehwal as she lost her match in three games. Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea beatSaina Nehwal 20-22, 21-8, 21-14 to advance to the pre-quarterfinal of the China Open.