World Badminton Championships: PV Sindhu, Satwik chirag go round from 16 | Badminton News – The Times of India

PV Sindhu again showed her characteristic resilience, and clawed her way back from the rear foot to beat Malaysia Letshanaa Karupathevan and book a place in the ladies Singles Pre-Quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships on Wednesday. The double Olympic medal winner, who had also seen Wankel in her opening round victory, came down in the first game of 12-18 to seal a 21-19, 21-15 victory in 42 minutes. Sindhu, the World Champion 2019, made a slow start. Letshanaa, in 40th place in the world, attacked from the start with sharp smashes and precise drops and racing with 11-8 ahead with the interval. The Malaysian continued to dictate exchanges and extended her advantage to 18-12, putting the Indian under pressure. But just when the game seemed to slide away, Sindhu turned it around with an eruption of six points. Errors of Letshaana and a timely smash from Sindhu brought the scores to 18-all. From there, Sindhu held her nerve and neatly hit 19-19 to earn the game before he closed it while her opponent faltered. The comeback shifted the momentum firmly in favor of the Indian. In the second game, she jumped to a 5-1 lead and maintained control with sharp finishes on the net and the consistent depth of the backline. Although Letshanaa kept fighting, leaving leaves and casual mistakes in her playing while Sindhu pushed 10-6 in the middle of the stage. The attacking game of Sindhu kept the Malaysian chase, and once the Indian opened a clear lead, little was back. Seven match points came Sindhu away after Letshanaa went twice, and the match ended when the Malaysian misled a forehand. Earlier in the day, India’s mixed Doubles couple Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto drove along the Joshua Magee and Moya Ryan van Ireland and Moya Ryan 21-11, 21-16 to continue to the last 16. The duo will now meet the fifth seeds of Hong Kong Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet for a place in the quarterfinals. In the meantime, Sindhu lives to fight another day, her ability to dig deeply save her campaign in the worlds.

Satwiksiraj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty fought past Chinese Taipei’s Yang Po Han and Liu Kuang Heng 22-20, 21-13 to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the gentlemen. The Indians survived anxious moments in the opener, which saved four playing points before Chirag’s sharp return sealed the 22-20 in their favor. In the second game, the Indian pair quickly moved ahead after the mid-game break, with coach Tan Kim who encouraged them to stay aggressive. From 16-10 they accelerated further and converted their first match point to complete the Straight-Games victory and continue their strong run on the BWF world championships.