India's P.V. Sindhu sailed into the third round of the BWF World Championships, beating Chinese Taipei's Pai Yu Po 21-14 21-15 at Basel, Switzerland.
It was Sindhu's third win over Pai in as many matches. It was also the 17th win for the two-time silver medallist at the World Championships—the joint-most in women's singles with Carolina Marin.
Sindhu, seeded fifth, and Pai were level at 5-5 in the first game. But the Olympic silver medallist used her reach to good effect, racing to a 11-7 lead. There was not much respite for the Chinese Taipei player after the break, as Sindhu soon opened up a eight-point lead, at 18-10. Though Pai managed to pull things back a bit, Sindhu managed to take the first game 21-14.
Sindhu continued to dictate terms in the second game, racing to a 8-5 lead. But Pai put up a tough fight and managed to enter the interval with a 11-10 lead. But the Indian changed gears once again, as she opened up a five-point lead at 19-14, and soon took the game 21-15.
Sindhu will now take on Beiwen Zhang of the US in the round of 16. She had got a bye in the first round. Sindhu had lost to Zhang at the India Open finals last year.
In doubles, the Indian pairing of Jakkapudi Meghana and Poorvisha S. Ram went down 8-21 18-21 to eighth seeds Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto of Japan.
