Changzhou: Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu overcame a spirited challenge from teenage compatriot Unnati Hooda to progress to the second round, while Ayush Shetty produced a stunning upset by knocking out world No. 11 Alwi Farhan in the opening round of the China Open here on Wednesday.
Sindhu, who ended a two-year title drought by winning the Japan Open last week, had to dig deep before overcoming 18-year-old compatriot Unnati 21-14, 9-21, 21-10 in a hard-fought 56-minute women’s singles opening-round clash.
The former world champion was tested early as Unnati matched her point for point until 7-7 in the opening game.
Sindhu then found her rhythm, reeling off five consecutive points to open up a 12-8 lead before comfortably taking the game 21-14.
The second game belonged entirely to the youngster.
After the scores were level at 2-2, Unnati surged to a 6-3 lead and then rattled off six straight points to race to 12-4.
Sindhu struggled to find her range as Unnati maintained complete control to force a decider with a dominant 21-9 win.
Sindhu, however, responded like a champion in the deciding game as she gradually pulled away after a close start, stretching her advantage from 6-3 to 10-5 and then 15-8 before sealing victory 21-10 to advance in the BWF Super 1000 tournament.
In the round of 16, the Indian will face fourth seed and local favourite Chen Yufei, whom she defeated in straight games in the Japan Open semifinals last week.
Chen holds a narrow 8-7 head-to-head advantage over Sindhu.
In the men’s singles, Ayush Shetty pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the opening round by defeating Indonesia’s world No. 11 and former world junior champion Alwi Farhan 17-21, 21-5, 21-17 in a 57-minute contest.
After dropping the opening game, Shetty bounced back emphatically, dominating the second game before maintaining his composure in the decider to complete a memorable victory.
In the men’s doubles, Hariharan Amsakarunan and M.R. Arjun were outclassed by China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, losing 16-21, 7-21 in under 30 minutes.
India’s mixed doubles pairs Rohan Kapoor and Gadde Ruthvika Shivani lost 9-21, 16-21 to top seeds Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping of China in 37 minutes, while Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto went down 18-21, 18-21 to fifth-seeded Chinese pair Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui in a 41-minute match.
