PV Sindhu is the lone survivor for India in the ongoing Denmark Open, after Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth lost their respective second round clashes on Thursday. Sindhu defeated third seed Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying in straight sets, 21-12 and 21-15, to reach the quarterfinals of the Denmark Open.
Tzu Ying, who had gone into the match as the favourite, was stunned by PV Sindhu's brilliant display. Prior to the second round match, Sindhu had a 1-3 win-loss record over the third seed, who was one of the major contenders for the Denmark Open title.
Sindhu looked in complete control, though, during the match, as the Indian shuttler took an aggressive approach against the Tzu Ying, who could not find a way to stop the Indian from winning points on a consistent basis.
The Indian moved quite swiftly on the court, which played an important role in helping her win the match in straight sets.
"She had a lot of flicks, and is a good stroke player. I'd lost to her in our last match, but [in this match] I didn't get caught up in her traps. I was moving well and read her perfectly," Indian Express quoted Sindhu as saying.
With a number of top shuttlers in the fray, Sindhu needs to maintain her level of performance in the next round, where she is scheduled to meet Wang Yihan, who has won the Denmark Open twice in her career -- in 2010 and 2013.
However, things did not go according to plan for the top seed in the women's singles, Saina Nehwal, who lost to Japan's Minatsu Mitani in straight sets 21-18, 21-13. After losing the first set, Saina was low on confidence and the Japanese took full control of the situation.
After winning the silver medal at the World Championships, Saina has been below par and rather disappointing.
In the men's singles, Srikanth, who was India's biggest bet, lost to Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto 21-15 and 21-17. Though the Indian shuttler did give come up with some amazing shots during the match, it was not enough, as Sugiarto showed great form to oust the fifth seed.
