NEW DELHI: Indian badminton ace PV Sindhu advanced to the second round of the women's singles at the Indonesia Open 2021 in Bali on Wednesday after defeating Japans Aya Ohori 17-21, 21-17, 21-17.
In the second round, Sindhu will face Germany's Yvonne Li, who edged past Turkish shuttler Neslihan Yigit 19-21, 23-21, 21-13.
The world No. 22 Ohori's aggressive play caught Sindhu off guard as she conceded a 13-9 lead in the first game. However using her experience, Sindhu rallied back to draw level at 15-15 and even took a one-point lead. But Ohori responded with four consecutive points and wrapped up the first game 21-17.
Ohori carried her rhythm into the second game, racing to a 4-0 lead but Sindhu amped up her game to take the second game 21-17 and forced a decider.
The third game proved to be a closely-fought affair as both players enjoyed patches of dominance. However, with the score level at 15-15, Sindhu found her flow and repeated the second-game scoreline to win the match in one hour and 10 minutes.
In the mixed doubles, India's Dhruv Kapila and N Sikki Reddy bowed out following a 21-7, 21-12 defeat to Japan's Kyohei Yamashita and Naru Shinoya.
Former world No. 1 men's singles player Kidambi Srikanth will be in action later in the day.