PV Sindhu qualifies for badminton’s women’s singles quarter-finals

India’s PV Sindhu confirmed her place in the women’s singles badminton quarter-finals at the Rio Olympics on Monday night when she beat Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying 21-13, 21-15. The keenly-contested match lasted for 40 minutes, and it was sheer delight to watch the two-times World Championships bronze medallist score her victory.

Sindhu had previously faced Tai Tzu at the Denmark Open last year, and beat her there too. In this match, she opened up a 3-1 lead early on and even though Tai drew level at 5-5, she managed to lead 11-6 at the break.

Sindhu won a video referral to reach game point at 20-13 and then pocketed it comfortably with Tai hitting wide. Tai succeeded in reducing the margin to 10-12 but Sindhu was faster. Tai's inability to rein in unforced errors saw Sindhu lead 11-6 at the interval. At the end, Sindhu sailed to a 14-7 lead.

Sindhu is the first ever Indian women's singles player to win a medal at the World Championships. In 2015, she received India's fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri. Sindhu's father Ramanna is himself an Arjuna awardee, who represented India in volleyball.

Now for the quarter-finals, where Sindhu will play World No. 2 Wang Yihan from China. Good luck, Sindhu.

Feature image credit: Edubilla.com