PV Sindhu, two-time Olympic winner from India, began her Paris Olympics campaign with a thumping victory over Fathimath Abdul Razzaq of the Maldives in the women’s singles group stage match on Sunday.
Sindhu, who is looking for her third Olympic medal, needed only 29 minutes to defeat her lower-ranked opponent 21-9 21-6 in the Group M match. After a couple of unforced errors, Sindhu quickly assessed the situation and grabbed command, surging to an 11-4 lead.
Fathimath, the world’s No. 111, was no match for the former world champion, who finished the first game in 13 minutes.
The second game was similar, with Sindhu collecting the first four points in a blink of an eye to take a quick lead. However, Razzaq took advantage of Sindhu’s miscue to close the gap and make it 3-4. However, the Indians pushed their lead to 10-3, making the game once again lopsided.
In the end, Sindhu had up to 14 match points, but the world number 13 just needed one to win the tie.
The 10th seeded Indian, who won a silver medal at the Rio Games in 2016 and a bronze in the most recent edition in Tokyo, will face Estonian World No. 75 Kristin Kuuba in her second group match on Wednesday.
(with inputs from PTI)
