Paris (France): India's ace shuttler and two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu has qualified for the Round of 16 stage after defeating Estonia's Kristin Kuuba in straight sets of the women's singles Pool M match of the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 on Wednesday.
Sindhu won 21-5 21-10 in her second and last Group M match that stretched for 14 minutes. The 29-year-old Sindhu, who had beaten Maldives' Fathimath Abdul Razzaq 21-9 21-6 in her first match, topped the group with two wins. The winner of each of the 16 groups qualifies for the round of 16.
Sindhu did not have to toil much, as the gulf in class between the two players was evident. The 29-year-old dominated the right from the start, easily winning the first set 21-5. She spotted her rival Kristin Kuuba's weakness of returning the backhands that come towards the body line. The Indian then capitalised on the opportunity and kept challenging the Estonian, hitting back-to-back smashes towards her.
The 27-year-old Kuuba gave a good fight at the beginning of the second set, taking a lead by four points with a scoreline of 5-1. However, once Sindhu picked the rhythm, her opponent struggled to return the Indian's backhand shots. Sindhu quickly seized the initiative and levelled the score. But Kuuba did not throw in the towel and engaged the Indian in longer rallies and eventually, Sindhu registered a very comfortable victory in the second set by 21-10.
🏸 PV Sindhu defeats her Estonian opponent Kristin Kuuba 21-5, 21-10 in #Badminton women’s singles group match
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) July 31, 2024
With 2 out of 2 wins in the group stage, she qualifies for the pre- quarterfinals
Let’s #Cheer4Bharat, let’s cheer for Sindhu!
Catch all the live action on DD Sports… pic.twitter.com/ndYYZu4BmG
The Indian ace has previously won a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Games and a bronze in the Tokyo edition.
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