Paris Olympics: Sindhu, Prannoy register wins
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Paris: Two-time Olympic medallist Indian shuttler P V Sindhu began her Paris Olympics campaign with a resounding win in straight games over Maldives' Fathimath Abdul Razzaq in the women's singles group stage match, here on Sunday.
The gulf of class between the two players was evident as Sindhu, who is vying for a third Olympic medal, took just 29 minutes to dispatch her lower-ranked opponent 21-9, 21-6 in the Group M fixture.
After a couple of unforced errors, Sindhu was quick to assess the condition and took control of the proceedings, racing to a 11-4 lead.
The world No. 111 Fathimath was no match against the former world champion who finished the first game in a mere 13 minutes.
The second game followed a similar manner with Sindhu claiming the first four points in the blink of an eye to take an early lead.
However, Razzaq capitalised on Sindhu's error to bridge the gap to make it 3-4. But it became a one-sided contest once again as the Indian increased the gap to 10-3.
In the end, Sindhu had as many as 14 match points but the world No 13 needed only one to seal the tie.
The 10th seeded Indian, who won the silver medal in the Rio Games in 2016 and a bronze in the last edition in Tokyo, will take on World No 75 Kristin Kuuba of Estonia in her second group match on Wednesday.
Keralite H S Prannoy opened his maiden campaign in Olympics with a straight-game win over lesser-ranked Fabian Roth of Germany in men's singles competition.
The 32-year-old, who was down with chikungunya for almost two weeks ahead of the Paris Games, gave a good display of fitness and showed his mettle during the 21-18, 21-12 win over Roth in a 45-minute match of Group K.
He will next face Le Duc Phat of Vietnam on Wednesday in the second and final group match.
Prannoy was tested by the world No. 82 Roth, who engaged the Indian in some quality rallies. After an initial duel, Roth was up 14-11 at one stage but an alert Prannoy upped the pace to make it 19-17.
A sharp smash gave him two game points and he converted them after his opponent erred at the net.
Prannoy, who had won bronze medals at the World Championships and the Asian Games last year, looked more at ease in the second game as he found his range and constructed the rallies well to move to 7-3.
Prannoy's net game, attacking shots and deft touch helped him to move to 16-11 in a jiffy. A backhand stroke handed the Indian eight match points and he sealed the affair after Roth sprayed a shot wide.