Sindhu downs Miyazaki, Unnati beat Gilmour, Satwik-Chirag advance at China Open
Sindhu, a former world champion, prevailed 21-15, 8-21, 21-17 over the 2022 world junior champion Miyazaki in a hard-fought 62-minute encounter.
'It was a much-awaited win for me. The first round was very important for me to cross. It was three games (contest) and even in the third set, it was important for me to take the lead from the beginning because one side was very disadvantaged,' Sindhu said.
'So, it started off really good, but in the second game, it was hard for me to control. And in the third game, it was important that I take the lead and maintain that.
'It was important for me to win these matches so that it will also give me a moral boost and also that confidence. Because sometimes I've been coming close, yet I've been losing. I need to continue this tempo and keep going.'
The 30-year-old from Hyderabad will now face fellow Indian Unnati Hooda, a winner of two Super 100 titles, the 2022 Odisha Masters and the 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters.
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