Sindhu begins title defence with easy win

Srikanth, Lakshya and Satwik-Chirag pair also advance

December 14, 2021 10:31 pm | Updated December 15, 2021 04:30 am IST - Huelva (Spain)

Grand start: Sindhu eased to victory in just 24 minutes.

Grand start: Sindhu eased to victory in just 24 minutes.

Defending champion P.V. Sindhu breezed past Slovakia’s Martina Repiska 21-7, 21-9 to make a resounding start to the BWF World Championship here on Tuesday.

The fast-rising Lakshya Sen prevailed over 15th-seeded Japanese Kenta Nishimoto 22-20, 15-21, 21-18, while K. Srikanth rallied to defeat China’s Li Shi Feng 15-21, 21-18, 21-17.

In the men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan 27-25, 21-17 in 43 minutes.

World No. 7 Sindhu took just 24 minutes to beat the unseeded opponent on court number 3 of Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marin Stadium here.

Seeded sixth in the tournament which she won in 2019 — when it was last held — the two-time Olympic-medallist began on a rousing note and raced to a 4-1 lead, which she stretched further to 11-4 at the break.

She continued her dominance and kept accumulating points to widen the lead, eventually pocketing the first game in only 10 minutes.

The script remained the same in the second game as well, with Sindhu maintaining her firm grip over the proceedings to race to a 6-0 lead in just two minutes. At midpoint, Sindhu was leading 11-1.

Lakshya was made to toil one hour and 22 minutes.

However, the mixed doubles pairing of Saurabh Sharma and Anoushka Parikh suffered a straight game defeat to Malaysians Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing, going down 21-8, 21-18.

The results: Women: P.V. Sindhu bt Martina Repiska (Svk) 21-7, 21-9.

Men: K. Srikanth bt Li Shi Feng (Chn) 15-21, 21-18, 21-17; Lakshya Sen bt Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn) 22-20, 15-21, 21-18.

Doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty bt Lee Jhe-Huei & Yang Po-Hsuan (Tpe) 27-25, 21-17.

Mixed doubles: Tan Kian Meng & Lai Pei Jing (Mas) bt Saurabh Sharma & Anoushka Parikh 21-8, 21-18 .

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