World Championships: PV Sindhu Advances To Pre-Quarterfinals, Defeats Kim Hyo Min

Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the women's singles competition after defeating Korea's Kim Hyo Min in the second round of the World Championship on Tuesday. Sindhu, who twice won bronze medals at the 2013 and 2014 editions, notched up a 21-16, 21-14 win over Kim in a 49-minute match, to extend her head-to-head record against the Korean to 4-1 in five meetings. The 22-year-old, who received a bye in the opening round, will face either Russian's Evgeniya Kosetskaya or Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi, 13th seed, in the next round.

Sindhu, from the word go, dominated her opponent and won eight consecutive points in the first set. Even though Kim Hyo Min fought back to win the next two points, Sindhu continued her rampage and made it 11-5 to keep a healthy lead and then later went on to win the first set 21-16. Going into the second set, Kim Hyo Min showed some resistance but Sindhu wrapped up the game up 21-14.

The last time Sindhu had faced Kim, she had suffered a straight-game defeat at 2016 Australian Open and the Indian came out all cylinders blazing today as she dished out a dominating game to zoom to a 8-0 lead in the first game.

Kim Hyo Min tried to break the one-way traffic and won four straight points but the Indian grabbed a comfortable 11-5 lead.

The Korean reduced the gap to 8-12 after the break but a determined Sindhu continued to move ahead and reached 16-10 at one stage. She eventually took a 20-14 lead. Kim saved two game points before the Indian sealed the opening game.

In the second game, Sindhu once again opened up a 8-3 lead. The Korean managed to reduce the margin to 8-10 but the Indian didn't allow Kim to put up a challenge as she kept on surging ahead, reaching 19-12.

She sealed the issue eventually without much ado, grabbing the final two points.