Changzhou: The reigning world champion PV Sindhu of India comfortably beat the London Olympic Champion Li Xuerui of China 21-18, 21-12 in 35 minutes at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium on Wednesday.
Li who suffered a ruptured ACL at the Rio Olympic Games and made her return to badminton on April of 2018, after 600 days injury layoff, told reporters that she has been doing her best to make a strong comeback.
“Sindhu was physically stronger and her skills was better than me. Thanks to all the support, I am a competitive person, I would like to also stand on top of the podium, but, for some reason, I kept running into new problems. I hope I can get a chance to stand on top of the podium again,” said Li.
The fifth seeded Sindhu will face Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand after the Thai player defeated Canada’s Michelle Li 23-21, 11-21, 21-19.
Unfortunately, India’ eighth seeded Saina Nehwal couldn’t proceed to the next round after suffering a straight game loss to Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand 10-21, 17-21.
Women’s singles No. 2 seed Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan also produced a dominant display to outlast Malaysia’s Soniia Cheah 21-9, 21-16. This was Tai’s 6 consecutive victory against Cheah. Next up for Tai will be Aya Ohori of Japan.
There were no major upsets in women’s doubles as No. 1 seeds Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara, No. 2 seeds Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi and No. 3 seeds Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota all advanced to the second round. Matsumoto/Nagahara will take on Korea’s Chang Ye Na/Kim Hye Rin, Matsumoto/Takahashi will battle India’s Ashwini Ponnappa/Reddy N. Sikki and Fukushima/Hirota will meet Selena Piek/Cheryl Seinen of Netherlands on Thursday.