Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu stormed into pre-quarterfinals with a facile straight game victory in the women's singles event in the ongoing Commonwealth Games (CWG) on Thursday (August 4).
Meanwhile, star Indian sprinter Hima Das qualified for the women's 200m semi-finals after winning her heat with a timing of 23.42s.
Sindhu routed Madlives' Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq 21-4 21-11 in just 21 minutes and clinched the Round of 32 contest.
The 27-year-old, who clinched silver in the last editon of the CWG, toyed with her opponent without breaking a sweat in the first game.
Without adopting an aggressive approach, Sindhu outfoxed the Madives shuttler with her all-round game. She mostly used her deceptive drops shots to garner points.
In the second game, Fathimath produced some resistance initially and was on level terms with Sindhu till 9-9, as the Indian mostly gave away points on unforced errors.
But Sindhu got her composure back and went into the breather leading 11-9.
After the break, it was all Sindhu as she ran away with the game with Razzaq managing just two points, to book her place in the last-16.
Earlier, PV Sindhu did what was expected out of her in the women's singles while the men's doubles pairing of Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down in the opening doubles. With the win, Malaysia regained the title they had lost to India four years ago in Gold Coast.
"The ultimate goal is the Paris Olympics in 2024. But the focus right now is winning a CWG medal and then the World Championships," Sindhu had said.
"Winning at the Commonwealth Games is a big achievement, it happens every four years. And representing our country at the biggest certainly gives a lot of pride. Hoping for the gold this time." Sindhu had added.
Hima makes a dash
The 22-year-old Hima led the five-woman field from the start with Rhoda Njobvu of Zambia clocking 23.85s to finish second while Jacent Nyamhunge of Uganda finished third with a timing of 24.07.
There are six heats lined up in the women's 200m and the top-16 will qualify for the semi-final.
Hima won heat 2 but Favour Ofili of Nigeria (22.71s in Heat 1) and the formidable Elaine-Thompson-Herah (22.80s in heat 5) had superior timings.
At least six athletes have clocked better time, compared to Hima, en route their semi-final entries.
