Sindhu sails to Malaysia Masters second round

World No. 15 Sindhu, who had skipped the Uber Cup and Thailand Open, notched up a 21-17 21-16 win over Gilmour, who is ranked 22nd, in the opening-round match that lasted 46 minutes.

FILE PHOTO: PV Sindhu in action. | Photo Credit: PTI

Returning from a break, two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu progressed to the women’s singles second round with a straight-game win over Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament here on Wednesday.

World No. 15 Sindhu, who had skipped the Uber Cup and Thailand Open, notched up a 21-17, 21-16 win over Gilmour, who is ranked 22nd, in the opening-round match that lasted 46 minutes.

The fifth-seeded Indian, who last won a title in 2022 Singapore Open, will next face Korea’s Sim Yu Jin.

Ashmita Chaliha also progressed to the round of 16 with a 21-17, 21-16 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Lin Sih Yun. World No. 53 Ashmita will be up against third-seeded American Beiwen Zhang for a place in the quarterfinals.

However, Unnati Hooda lost 21-13, 21-18 to China’s Gao Fang Jie while Aakarshi Kashyap suffered a 24-22, 21-13 against second seed Wang Zhi Yi, another Chinese shuttler.

In men’s singles, Kiran George made it to the next round with a 21-16, 21-17 win over Japan’s Takuma Obayashi. Kiran will face either fifth-seeded Malaysian Lee Zii Jia or China’s Zhao Jun Peng in the round of 16.

In mixed doubles, B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy, world No. 53, also advanced to the second round after outlasting Hong Kong qualifiers Lui Chun Wai and Fu Chi Yan 21-15, 12-21, 21-17 in 47 minutes.

The husband-wife duo will have the task of taming the top seeds Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei of Malaysia next.

Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath lost 21-16, 21-21-13 to Indonesian duo of Dejan Ferdinansyah and Gloria Widjaja.

In men’s doubles, Krishna Prasad Garaga and K. Sai Pratheek defeated Chinese Taipei’s Ming Che Lu and Tang Kai Wei 23-21, 21-11 to set up a second-round clash with third-seeded Chinese pair of He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu.

For Sindhu, it was her third win over Gilmour, a two-time medallist in the Commonwealth Games.

The 28-year-old Sindhu was quick to open up a 7-1 lead but Gilmour managed to claw back at 14-14 and 15-15. The Indian, however, dashed her hopes of a challenge as she grabbed six of the next eight points to take the first game.

After the change of sides, Sindhu was more ruthless as she didn’t allow her opponent to make any comeback after once again gaining an early 3-0 lead. Sindhu was 11-6 at the break and kept moving ahead to grab eight match points. To her credit, Gilmour saved four match points before Sindhu sealed the match comfortably.

Sindhu, a former world champion, has endured a series of narrow losses ever since returning from a knee injury early this year. She is eyeing a good show here to boost her confidence ahead of the Paris Olympics.