Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 11: Two time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu sailed into the second round of the women’s singles of the ongoing India Open 2022 while Young Indian shuttler Ashmita Chaliha recorded the first upset of the tournament at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Unseeded Chaliha beat world number 28 Russian 24-22 21-16 in in 31 minutes, while double Olympic medalist Sindhu breezed through compatriot Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli 21-5 21-16 in her first round. Chirag Sen, on the other hand, was eliminated in the first round of the men’s singles, losing 8-21 7-21 to Malaysia’s Soong Joo Ven.
Chaliha got off to a good start in her opener, using her down-the-line smashes to take an 11-5 lead. After the break, though, the Indian made a slew of errors, and Kosetsyaka pounced on the opportunity to tie the game at 14-14 and then rally from 16-19 to gain her first game point.
But she who had lost to the Russian in their previous match in 2019, regrouped and forced an unforced error from her opponent before saving two more game points and claiming the opener with a smash.
The second game followed a similar pattern, with Chaliha taking an 11-4 lead only to be beaten 19-16 by the Russian. The Indian, on the other hand, was in better control this time and held her cool under pressure to finish the match in 31 minutes.
“I haven’t played a lot of matches in the last few years. So, I was nervous and that affected me midway in the opening game. But once I won the first game, I was more confident and so I was relaxed in the second game,” Chaliha said after the match.
“This was one of my biggest wins. I played her before in I had lost to her in straight games so it was my biggest win,” she added.
Notably, Chaliha will next face France’s Yaelle Hoyaux, who defeated India’s Riya Mookerjee 14-21 13-21. While, Sindhu will play the winner of the match between Egypt’s Hany Doha and India’s Ira Sharma.
“Definitely, I need to tune my game a lot more and work on my skills, also add more weapons because everybody is going to read your game. So it is important to change your game against that player because nowadays they watch your previous matches, so you have to strategies accordingly,” Sindhu insisted.
“I played with her a long time back. I didn’t take it easy. The first match is always important. Playing the first day at the stadium, I had to make sure that my strokes were coming good and I just maintained the lead and finished off the match, added PV Sindhu.
