Badminton
Tokyo Olympics: PV Sindhu sails into the quarter-finals bypassing Mia Blichfeldt
In just 40 minutes, PV Sindhu ended Mia Blichfeldt's journey with sheer dominance and raced into her second straight Olympic quarter-final!
World No. 7 PV Sindhu eased into the Quarter finals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics over her Danish compatriot, Mia Blichfeldt in straight sets, 21-15, 21-13 in 40 mins.
Sindhu, the silver medalist from 2016 Rio Olympics, had previously said after her match against Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong that her clash with the Dane is not going to be easy. Sindhu, the current World No. 7 has previously met the World No. 12, Mia, 5 times with the former having a 4-1 record overall where the latter's only win came at the Yonex Thailand Open earlier this year.
The overall head to head to head record seemed to have given Sindhu some real good boost as Sindhu started off on a positive note, playing some exquisite shots. The Indian raced to a 10-5 lead and was looking for an effortless win in the first set. But, the Danish had some other plans as she made an incredible comeback to make the scoreline look 16-15 in favour of Sindhu. Ultimately, Sindhu closed out the set at 21-15 with her experience paying off.
The second set seemed to be a carbon copy of the first one as the Indian took a 3-0 lead before Mia made a comeback, well she had to as Sindhu was looking to wrap up not only the set but the match as well. Sindhu played some jaw-dropping shots, especially the crosscourt drop shots and was particularly good at the drop shots near the net. The Danish didn't help her own cause as she made several errors, including errors in her serves making Sindhu's task even more easier.
With the win, Sindhu now moves to the quarter finals where her opponent will most likely be, Akane Yamaguchi, the World No. 5. With the kind of form and confidence Sindhu is carrying with her, expect the Quarter finals to be a mouth watering contest!