BWF World Championships: 2019 champion PV Sindhu advances to round two

Paris [France], August 26 (ANI): The two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu marched into the second round of the ongoing Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships on Tuesday.

In Paris, France, Sindhu warded off a challenge from Bulgaria's Kaloyana Nalbantova with a 23-21, 21-6 scoreline in 39 minutes, as per Olympics.com.

The Indian shuttler, placed 15th in world rankings, who had struggled for form this season, started off poorly against the 19-year-old and trailed by four points in the first interval.

But after the restart, she scored seven points in a row to take a lead of 14-12. However, the Paris 2024 Olympian and two-time junior European champion was not to be denied, as she fought till the very end, forcing the Indian veteran to save two game points, as she won the marathon opener in 23 minutes.

Sindhu after gaining momentum, started the second game by getting four successive points, however the Bulgarian fought back to reduce the deficit to 6-5 before Sindhu's experience fetched her 14 successive points. Kaloyana broke the streak however it was too late as Sindhu had won the match by getting the next point.

Sindhu will played either Hong Kong's Saloni Samirbhai Mehta or Karupathevan Letshanaa of Malaysia in the second round.

Sindhu is a former world champion from 2019. Sindhu is on a hunt for her sixth medal in this global event, having bagged back-to-back bronze medals in 2013 and 2014 and successive silver medals from 2017 and 2018.

World number 34 HS Prannoy, who won a bronze medal in the world championships back in 2023, will be in action against 47th-ranked Joakim Oldorff of Finland in the opening round. He is the last Indian men's singles player remaining after Commonwealth Games champion and Olympian Lakshya Sen's ouster in the first round itself.

Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde will also feature in mixed doubles later in the day. Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, though, will start their campaign from second round on Wednesday, having received an opening round bye.

In the men's doubles, ninth seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will also start their campaign from tomorrow in the second-round after getting a first round bye.

India has bagged at least one medal in the Badminton World Championships since 2011. (ANI)

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