Beijing, July 24: Double Olympic medallist and former world champion P V Sindhu overcame sixth seed Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan 21-15, 8-21, 21-17 to reach the round of 16 at the China Open Super 1000 event on Wednesday.
Sindhu started strongly, reeling off seven consecutive points to lead 13-5 in the opening game before sealing it comfortably.
In the second game, Miyazaki fought back brilliantly, taking nine points in a row to lead 12-8 before restoring parity.
Sindhu regained control in the decider, maintaining a steady lead to close out the contest and secure a hard-fought win in 62 minutes.
Currently ranked 15th in the world, Sindhu was facing the 18-year-old world No. 6 Miyazaki for the second time, having lost to the Japanese youngster at the Swiss Open last year.
Last week, Sindhu had suffered a first-round exit at the Super 750 Japan Open, losing 15-21, 14-21 to Korea’s Sim Yu Jin — her fifth first-round defeat this year.
The Indian ace is hoping to bounce back from a string of early exits this season, which includes first or second-round losses at the Indonesia Open, Singapore Open, Malaysia Masters, Asian Championships, Swiss Open, All England Open and Indonesia Masters.
Meanwhile, the world No. 15 men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made a strong start, defeating Japan’s Kenya Mitsuhashi and Hiroki Okamura 21-13, 21-9 in just 31 minutes.
The Indian duo combined well to keep their opponents under constant pressure, winning the first game comfortably before wrapping up the second even more emphatically.
The former world No. 1 pair will be looking to break their semi-final jinx this season, having reached the last four at the Malaysia Open, India Open and Singapore Open.
However, it was disappointment for the women’s doubles team of Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda, who lost to Hong Kong’s Nga Ting Yeung Yeung and Pui Lam Yeung 12-21, 13-21 in 31 minutes.