Shuttler PV Sindhu overcomes first-round hurdle at China Masters

Shenzhen (China), Sep 16 (PTI) Star India shutter PV Sindhu overcame the first-round hurdle, defeating Julie Dawall Jakobsen of Denmark in straight games to advance to the women's singles pre-quarterfinals of the China Masters Super 750 badminton tournament, here on Wednesday.

Sindhu, the two-time Olympic medallist, took just 27 minutes to decimate Jakobsen 21-4, 21-10. The win for the Indian comes less than 10 days after her opening-round loss in the Hong Kong Open Super 500 tournament where she had lost to another Dane Line Christophersen.

Sindhu, who has suffered six first-round exit on the BWF World Tour this year with the latest being the Hong Kong Open, was in her elements as the 30-year-old raced to a substantial lead in no time and finishing the opening game in slightly over 10 minutes.

The trend continued in the second game as well with the Indian, who had beaten the Dane in two previous occasions as well, taking a three-point lead at 4-1 before Jakobsen made it 4-4.

Thereafter, Sindhu displayed her experience and superior technique to finish off her opponent's challenge. She won six straight points to jump from 11-8 to 17-8, before closing out the contest.

The last time the two had met, in the opening round of the Yonex Swiss Open in March, Jakobsen had given a tough fight to Sindhu.

Young Ayush Shetty will take on sixth-seeded Chou Tien Chen in a men's singles first-round match later int he day, while the mixed doubles pair of Ruthvika Gadde and Rohan Kapoor will play Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara.

Shetty, who had shocked Japan's Kodai Naraoka last week, will look for another strong run against Chou. PTI AM AM TAP