Shenzhen: Two-time Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu made a commanding start at the China Masters Super 750 on Wednesday, easing past Denmark’s Julie Dawall Jakobsen in straight games to reach the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals.
Sindhu needed just 27 minutes to dismantle Jakobsen 21-4, 21-10, showing no signs of the inconsistency that has plagued her season. The win comes as a strong response after her first-round exit at the Hong Kong Open, where she lost to Line Christophersen.
The 30-year-old Indian was in complete control from the start, racing to a double-digit lead in the opener and closing it out in just over 10 minutes. Jakobsen briefly leveled at 4-4 in the second game, but Sindhu’s superior shot-making and experience shone through. From 11-8, Sindhu reeled off six straight points to seal her third career win over the Dane.
Meanwhile, Ayush Shetty pushed sixth seed Chou Tien Chen into a decider before falling short 19-21, 21-12, 16-21 in a 68-minute men’s singles battle. Despite fighting back strongly in the second game and being level at 13-13 in the decider, the 20-year-old Indian could not stop Chen from pulling away late. The defeat marked Shetty’s third loss of the year to the world No. 5 from Chinese Taipei.
Shetty, however, had something to celebrate this week, as he achieved a career-best world ranking of No. 27, boosted by his recent Hong Kong Open quarterfinal run where he beat world No. 9 Kodai Naraoka.
In mixed doubles, Ruthvika Gadde and Rohan Kapoor exited in the first round after a 17-21, 11-21 defeat to Japan’s Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara.