Image Courtesy- The Indian Express
India’s medal hopeful world champion PV Sindhu began her campaign in the Tokyo Olympics badminton women’s singles event by registering a simple straight games win over Israel’s Ksenia Polikarpova. The World no.7 defeated the 58th ranked Polikarpova 21-7 21-10 in a lop-sided opening match.
Indian shuttler Sindhu will now face Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi, who is ranked 34th in the world rankings. Though Sindhu began on an aggressive note but briefly found herself lagging 3-4. However, She made a quick comeback and force Polikarpova to make a mistake and entered the break with an 11-5 lead. She grabbed 13 straight points.
She also used her familiar straight and crosscourt smashes and drops leaving Polikarpova under pressure, who failed to use a few chances that came her way. And Finally, Sindhu sealed the first game in her favor when Polikarpova missed a shot.
While Polikarpova, who was playing with a bandage on her knee, struggled to find her rhythm. In the second game, Sindhu opened up a 9-3 lead and entered the break with a massive seven-point advantage.
A lot has changed mentally, physically, and experience-wise. Coming to Tokyo 2020 is completely different; back then there were no expectations,” the Rio Games Silver medallist said after making a winning start to her campaign on Sunday.