Jakarta, Aug 13: Two-time bronze-medallist P V Sindhu stunned Olympic champion and former World No. 1 Chinese Li Xuerui in a hard-fought women's singles match to enter the quarterfinals of the World Badminton Championship here today.
The 11th seeded Sindhu, who clinched the bronze medal in 2013 and 2014 editions of this tournament, stunned Xuerui 21-17 14-21 21-17 in a battle that lasted 50 minutes.
Sindhu will next take on eighth seeded Sung Ji-hyun of South Korea. If she manages to win her quarterfinal match, she will be assured of at least a bronze.
The World No. 13 Indian, who had spent most of the time this season nursing an injury and struggling for form, today gave a glimpse of her previous self.
Sindhu made her intentions clear from the very beginning as she opened with a 5-1 lead in the first game and simply surged ahead, never letting her higher ranked opponent catch her.
The closest the Chinese came was at 16-17 before Sindhu won three points on the trot to make it 20-16 and eventually close the opening game 21-17.
Xuerui, however, came back strongly in the second game, using all her experience as she dominated from the very first point to steal the game 21-14 and take it to the decider.
In the third game, after breaking away from tied 3-3, Sindhu ran away with a 11-6 lead at the break. But the Chinese kept breathing down her neck, clawing back at 13-13.
At 14-14, Sindhu managed to win four successive points to once again open up a 18-14 lead. Thereafter she just tightened the noose, not letting the advantage slip and sealed the issue rather comfortably in the end.
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