World Championship | PV Sindhu cruises into the pre-quarters with an easy win
PV Sindhu had no problems advancing from the second round as she experienced a surprisingly smooth sail against Kim Hyo Min in the women’s singles event. Sai Praneeth and Ajay Jayaram also saw off their opponents in straight sets as they progressed into the second round of the BWF event.
The 42 seeded North Korean was widely expected to pose a stronger challenge to Sindhu but the Indian shuttler eased past her in Glasgow on Tuesday, with straight set wins 16-21, 14-21 in the women's singles second round.
The 22-year-old had a fierce start to the game as she led Kim 8-0 in no time. The North Korean was understandably thrown off the gear by that as she dominated the second game too. Sindhu will face either Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong or Evgeniya Kosetskaya of Russia in the third round.
In other games, Sai Praneeth and Ajay Jayaram registered easy wins to enter into the second round. While Praneeth won 21-18, 21-17 against Hong Kong’s Wei Nan, Jayaram saw off Austria’s Luka Wraber 21-14, 21-12 to progress comfortably.
Praneeth faces a tough opponent in Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the second round, whom he had lost to in the Thomas Cup last year, while Jayram entertains Mark Caljouw.
India
The other two pairs bowed out in the second round. The duo of Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa put up a strong fight against the Chinese pairing of Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping before losing 17-21, 21-18, while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Maneesha were eliminated by Danish pair Mathias Christiansen and Sara Thygesen in straight sets of 20-22, 18-21.
