Basel (Switzerland): Two-time silver medallist PV Sindhu produced a commanding performance in her opening match at the BWF World Championships here Wednesday. And compatriot Saina Nehwal provided an equally dominant show as the two sailed into the pre-quarterfinals of the tournament.
Fifth seed PV Sindhu looked in good touch as she controlled the rallies and outsmarted Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu Po 21-14, 21-14 in a 43-minute contest.
Eighth seed Saina Nehwal also made a positive start to her campaign, defeating the Netherland’s Soraya De Visch Eijbergen 21-10, 21-11 to set up a clash with Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt. It was thorough domination by Saina Nehwal who completely outfoxed her opponent.
Among others, Indian pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy suffered a 16-21, 19-21 loss to sixth-seeded Chinese combination of Han Cheng Kai and Zhou Hao Dong in men’s doubles.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy also crashed out after losing 20-22, 16-21 to seventh seeds Du Yue and Li Yin Hui of China.
In another match played on the day, the Indian pairing of Jakkapudi Meghana and Poorvisha S Ram went down 8-21, 18-21 to eighth seeds Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto of Japan in women’s doubles competition.
PTI