NEW DELHI: India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu defeated USA’s Beiwen Zhang 13-21, 21-10, 21-14 in the second round of the BWF French Open 2024 on Thursday.
PV Sindhu, who defeated Michelle Li of Canada on Wednesday, was completely outplayed in the first game at the Arena Porte de la Chapelle in Paris. However, the two-time Olympic medalist upped her performance in the second game.
Going into the break with an 11-7 lead, world No. 11 Sindhu was able to open up an incredible eight-point lead and win the game handily.
In the decider, Zhang, ranked 10th in the world, seized an early 4-2 lead thanks to two powerful smashes. Sindhu, on the other hand, evened the score at 5-5 after winning a 34-shot rally and riding the momentum to win the match in 55 minutes.
“Even though I lost the first game, I think I didn’t lose hope, and I kept fighting back. In the second and third game, I made sure to control my mistakes and I kept the shuttle in the court. You always want to perform really well when it matters the most, whether it is at the end of the game or a tournament like at the Olympics,” PV Sindhu said after the match as quoted by Olympics.com.
The 28-year-old’s last BWF quarter-final appearance came at the Denmark Open in October of last year.
Sindhu will now focus on defending Olympic champion Chen Yufei of the People’s Republic of China. The Indian shuttler has a 6-5 head-to-head record against Yufei, the current world number two. (ANI)