Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu began her bid for a record sixth BWF World Championships medal with a comfortable straight-games victory over Ireland’s Sophia Noble in the women’s singles first round here on Monday.
The ninth-seeded Indian, a five-time World Championships medallist, defeated Noble 21-7, 21-11 in just 29 minutes to enter the second round.
Sindhu has won two bronze medals, two silver medals and a gold at the World Championships, with her title coming in 2019.
A semifinal appearance at this year’s tournament would guarantee Sindhu at least a bronze and make her the first player in World Championships history to win six medals.
Only China’s Lin Dan and Zhao Yunlei have also won five World Championships medals.
Sindhu Dominates Noble
Sindhu controlled the opening game from the beginning, using her experience and patient approach to force errors from Noble.
She raced to an 11-2 lead at the interval and continued to dominate before comfortably closing out the game.
Noble offered greater resistance in the second game and stayed close to Sindhu early on. The Indian, however, raised her level after taking an 11-8 lead at the break.
Sindhu then controlled the rallies with a combination of drop shots and smashes before sealing victory with a delicate backhand drop at the net.
She will face Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang in the second round. Zhang defeated Bulgaria’s Stefani Stoeva 21-7, 21-19.
Jolly-Gayatri Ease Through
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also advanced to the women’s doubles second round with a comfortable victory.
The 16th-seeded Indian pair defeated Spain’s Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez 21-9, 21-13.
They will next face American pair Lauren Lam and Allison Quynh Lee.
Hariharan-Arjun Advance
In men’s doubles, Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun progressed after Scotland’s Scott Guildea and Paul Reynolds retired while trailing 21-16, 6-4.
The Indians will next face Korean 15th seeds Min Hyuk Kang and Dong Ju Ki, who received a first-round bye.
Fifth seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also have a bye into the second round, where they will take on Scotland’s Alexander Dunn and Adam Pringle.
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