Changzhou: India’s top shuttler PV Sindhu returned to winning ways with a gritty three-game victory over Japan’s sixth seed Tomoka Miyazaki at the China Open Super 1000 on Wednesday. The double Olympic medallist defeated the 18-year-old world No. 6 by a scoreline of 21-15, 8-21, 21-17 in a 62-minute thriller to advance to the round of 16.
Sindhu started the match with a dominant display, racing ahead with seven straight points to take a commanding 13-5 lead before closing out the opening game with ease. However, Miyazaki responded strongly in the second, stringing together nine consecutive points to turn the tide and force a decider. In the third game, Sindhu steadied herself, controlled the rallies, and held her nerve to secure a morale-boosting win.
Currently ranked world No. 15, Sindhu was seeking revenge for her previous loss to Miyazaki at the Swiss Open last year. The win comes as a relief after a string of early exits this season, including a first-round loss at last week’s Japan Open and setbacks at the Indonesia Open, Singapore Open, Malaysia Masters, and other major events.
Meanwhile, the men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, ranked world No. 15, stormed into the next round with a commanding 21-13, 21-9 win over Japan’s Kenya Mitsuhashi and Hiroki Okamura. The former world No. 1 pair took just 31 minutes to wrap up the match, showing excellent coordination and control throughout.
Satwik and Chirag will be aiming to go further in the tournament after multiple semi-final finishes this season, including at the Malaysia Open, India Open, and Singapore Open.
In contrast, there was disappointment in the women’s doubles draw as the Indian pair of Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda bowed out early, losing to Hong Kong’s Nga Ting Yeung Yeung and Pui Lam Yeung 12-21, 13-21 in just 31 minutes.
