Tokyo: World Champion PV Sindhu on Thursday thrashed world no. 12 from Denmark Mia Blichfeldt in straight sets to enter the quarterfinals here at Musashino Forest Plaza Court 3 in the Tokyo Olympics.
This was Sindhu's first knockout match of the tournament.
The 26-year-old Indian, who won a silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics, notched up a 21-15 21-13 win over 13th seed Blichfeldt in a 41-minute match.
World no.7, Sindhu had an easy first set which she won 21-15 that lasted 21 minutes.
Sindhu will next face the winner of the match between Akane Yamaguchi of Japan and Korea's Kim Gaeun.
"I started off well in the first game but around 15-16 I gave a couple of points because I was rushing in my defence. My coach was telling me that I was playing the wrong way and I realised that and I immediately changed my tactics and completed the first game," Sindhu told media after the match.
"Second game I was fine, I was maintaining the lead and finished it off."
Sindhu mixed her strokes well, putting her attacking clears and drops to good use besides smashing her way to finish points whenever there was a chance.
She anticipated the shuttle better and showed good court coverage during the 41-minute clash.
Blichfeldt did have her moments but she was too erratic to sustain the pressure on the Indian, who was always a step ahead of her rival during the contest.
Blichfeldt had a 2-0 lead early on but Sindhu soon took back control at 6-4 and kept her nose ahead before unleashing a cross court smash to enter the interval with a healthy 11-6 lead.
The Danish shuttler scripted a mini comeback, winning six of the next seven points, riding on a few smashes and Sindhu's unforced errors.
An unlucky net chord broke the run of points but Blichfeldt sent down two straight smashes to again narrow it to 14-16 before succumbing to a series of unforced errors.
In the second set, a do or die for Mia, Sindhu showed her class racing 5-0 in no time. The halfway mark saw Sindhu increasing the deficit by close to double. The scorecard read 13-7.
Blichfeldt tried to find an opening but Sindhu was always a step ahead as she again held a five-point advantage at the break.
After the interval, Sindhu lost a few points due to the occasional brilliance shown by her rival and sometimes, her own unforced error, but she was always in control and soon wrapped it up with a delicate shot near the net.
The finals scores in the second set was 21-13.
Sindhu is the only hope left in Badminton with doubles of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy out of competition. In her last Olympics appearance, she won silver at the Rio Olympics and the attacking shuttler is known for her penchant to perform in big tournament.
(With inputs from PTI)
