India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu and the top men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty cruised into the quarterfinals of the China Masters tournament with straight-game wins on Thursday.
It took just 41 minutes for two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu to prevail over sixth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand, 21-15 21-15. Satwik and Chirag, who had reached the Hong Kong Open final last week, beat Hsiang Chieh Chiu and Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei 21-13, 21-12 in 32 minutes.
Sindhu, ranked 14th, has now improved her head-to-head record against the Thai shuttler to 6-5. She will meet top seed An Se Young of Korea in the quarterfinals. Sindhu, who had exited the Hong Kong Open in the very first round, said after the match, "I am happy with the win and it was very important for me from the beginning to be alert and give my 100 per cent. Chochuwong is a top player. I played against her in the Indonesia Open; that time also it was a hard match. After winning the first game, I was much more alert in the second game."
She said the points were going equal, so it was very important for her to stay close to her as every point mattered. “I am happy that I gave my best. I have to prepare for tomorrow now. It's good that if you win the first game, you finish it off in the second game. Straight wins always give you that confidence. But you also have to be prepared for long matches and make sure that you are quicker on your feet," said Sindhu.
Also read: Sindhu stuns World No. 2, reaches quarters
She said the key to winning matches where there is strong air-conditioning drift is to control one's shots. Currently working alongside Indian women's singles coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama, the former men's singles coach of the Indonesian badminton team, Sindhu said their association is slowly and steadily showing results.
"It's very good (working relationship). He is a very good coach. Initially when we started, obviously we knew it will take time. We coordinated and figured out what needs to be done and changed. As a coach he is giving his best efforts, and as an athlete it's my duty also," she said.
Eighth seeded Satiwk and Chirag, on the other hand, convincingly defeated the lower-ranked Chinese Taipei pair for the second time this year. They had defeated Chiu and Wang in three tough games at the Hong Kong Open Super 500 tournament in the Round of 32 earlier this month.
The first game was completely dominated by the Indian pair, once ranked No.1 in the world, who took an early 7-2 lead before pocketing the game in less than 15 minutes. The second game too went the same way with the Indians leading all the way. The two will take on Ren Xiang Yu and Xie Haonan of China, who are ranked 30th in the world, for a place in the semifinals.
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