Senior Nationals: Sindhu enters quarterfinals with an easy win

Guwahati: Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu opened her campaign in the 83rd Senior National Badminton Championships with a straight-game win over Nagpur's Malvika Bansod to enter the women's singles quarterfinals here on Thursday.

A former champion, Sindhu took time to get into the groove before claiming a 21-11, 21-13 win over Malvika, who is a gold medallist at the South Asian U-21 Championship in Nepal and a runner-up at the Khelo India Games.

Like last year, the top eight players of the competition on the combined basis of world and domestic rankings were given direct entry into the singles pre-quarterfinals for which a 'super draw' was held Wednesday night.

Malvika made a dream start, moving to a 4-0 lead. Soon Sindhu clawed her way back to level the scores with a push at the back court.

Sindhu eventually grabbed an 11-7 advantage at the break. She continued to force the younger shuttler to commit errors.

At 19-11, Sindhu unleashed a couple of smashes to seal the first game.

In the second game, Sindhu surged ahead 9-2 with Malvika committing unforced errors. The Hyderabadi went into the break with an 11-4 lead.

Malvika played the rallies well, but lacked the finishing touch, committing unforced errors as Sindhu eventually wrapped up the tie in 35 minutes with a precise return at the forecourt.