new delhi, july 23
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu snapped her streak of first-round exits with a hard-fought 21-15, 8-21, 21-17 win against World No.6 Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan, to advance to the women’s singles Round of 16 at the China Open 2025, a BWF Super 1000 tournament being held at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou on Wednesday.
Sindhu, currently ranked No.15, made a strong start to the match, racing ahead 6-2 with good control and composure on the court. The lead grew to 10-5 and then 16-9. Although Miyazaki attempted a late comeback, Sindhu’s early dominance ensured she comfortably took the opening game.
In the second game, Miyazaki found her rhythm and after a close start, the Japanese pulled ahead to take an 11-7 lead at the interval. She maintained the momentum to clinch the game, forcing the decider.
Sindhu came out firing in the third game, quickly building a 5-1 lead, capitalising on a flurry of errors from Miyazaki. She extended her advantage to 11-2 at the final change of ends. While Miyazaki attempted to claw her way back from the far side, Sindhu held firm, pushing ahead to 17-9 before sealing the match in 62 minutes to advance to the second round.
Sindhu has had a challenging 2025 BWF World Tour season so far. Her best finish this year remains a quarter-final appearance at the India Open in January, which was followed by four first-round exits and two round of 16 finishes. Last week, Sindhu, a former world champion, went down 15-21, 14-21 to Korea’s Sim Yu Jin in the Super 750 Japan Open, her fifth first-round exit this year.
“It was a much-awaited win for me and winning against her, it was even tough. The first round was very important for me to cross and I’m happy that I did cross the first round. And it was three games and even in the third set, it was important for me to take the lead from the beginning because one side was very disadvantaged and one side was an advantage,” Sindhu said.
“It started off really good, but in the second game, it was hard for me to control. In the third game, it was important that I take the lead and maintain that, because you never know anything is going to happen. So I took a lead up to 11-2 and then changed courts. I had to maintain the lead, even though it was like two or three or four points, and just keep the lead and keep going,” she added.
This was Sindhu’s second meeting with the 18-year-old Miyazaki with the Japanese beating the Indian at the Swiss Open last year.
Meanwhile, in men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag, the World No. 12 duo, put up a dominant performance to progress into the Round-of-16.
The pair outclassed Japan’s Kenya Mitsuhashi and Hiroki Okamura with a convincing 21-13, 21-9 straight-game win.
Elsewhere, in women’s doubles, the Panda sisters, Rutaparna and Swetaparna, faced a tough challenge against the experienced Hong Kong duo and concluded their campaign.
