<p>Reigning world champion P V Sindhu sailed into the women's singles quarterfinals with a straight-game triumph over Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt in the Olympics badminton competition here on Thursday.</p>.<p>The 26-year-old Indian, who won a silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics, notched up a 21-15 21-13 win over 13th seed Blichfeldt in a 41-minute match.</p>.<p>Sindhu will next face the winner of the match between Akane Yamaguchi of Japan and Korea's Kim Gaeun.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/other-sports/pandemic-takes-toll-on-athletes-mental-health-at-tokyo-games-1014064.html" target="_blank">Read | Pandemic takes toll on athletes' mental health at Tokyo Games</a></strong></p>.<p>"I started off well in the first game but around 15-16 I gave a couple of points because I was rushing in my defence. My coach was telling me that I was playing the wrong way and I realised that and I immediately changed my tactics and completed the first game," Sindhu told media after the match.</p>.<p>"Second game I was fine, I was maintaining the lead and finished it off."</p>.<p>Sindhu mixed her strokes well, putting her attacking clears and drops to good use besides smashing her way to finish points whenever there was a chance.</p>.<p>She anticipated the shuttle better and showed good court coverage during the 41-minute clash.</p>.<p>Blichfeldt did have her moments but she was too erratic to sustain the pressure on the Indian, who was always a step ahead of her rival during the contest.</p>.<p>Blichfeldt had a 2-0 lead early on but Sindhu soon took back control at 6-4 and kept her nose ahead before unleashing a cross court smash to enter the interval with a healthy 11-6 lead.</p>.<p>The Danish shuttler scripted a mini comeback, winning six of the next seven points, riding on a few smashes and Sindhu's unforced errors.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/other-sports/chinas-diving-domination-has-olympic-rivals-in-awe-but-also-wary-1014061.html">Read | China's diving domination has Olympic rivals in awe but also wary</a></strong></p>.<p>An unlucky net chord broke the run of points but Blichfeldt sent down two straight smashes to again narrow it to 14-16 before succumbing to a series of unforced errors.</p>.<p>The Indian revved up the pace in the second game to zoom to 5-0 but a wrong line judgement from her ended the run of points.</p>.<p>Blichfeldt tried to find an opening but Sindhu was always a step ahead as she again held a five-point advantage at the break.</p>.<p>After the interval, Sindhu lost a few points due to the occasional brilliance shown by her rival and sometimes, her own unforced error, but she was always in control and soon wrapped it up with a delicate shot near the net.</p>.<p>On Wednesday, Sindhu had defeated world No. 34 Hong Kong's NY Cheung 21-9 21-16 to top Group J.</p>.<p>Sindhu is the lone Indian badminton hope left in fray after B Sai Praneeth's maiden Olympic campaign ended in agony in the men's competition.</p>.<p>He went down in straight games to Mark Caljouw of Netherlands for his second defeat in Group D.</p>.<p>On Tuesday, the men's doubles team of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy suffered a heartbreak after failing to make the quarterfinals despite winning two matches in their group.</p>
<p>Reigning world champion P V Sindhu sailed into the women's singles quarterfinals with a straight-game triumph over Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt in the Olympics badminton competition here on Thursday.</p>.<p>The 26-year-old Indian, who won a silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics, notched up a 21-15 21-13 win over 13th seed Blichfeldt in a 41-minute match.</p>.<p>Sindhu will next face the winner of the match between Akane Yamaguchi of Japan and Korea's Kim Gaeun.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/other-sports/pandemic-takes-toll-on-athletes-mental-health-at-tokyo-games-1014064.html" target="_blank">Read | Pandemic takes toll on athletes' mental health at Tokyo Games</a></strong></p>.<p>"I started off well in the first game but around 15-16 I gave a couple of points because I was rushing in my defence. My coach was telling me that I was playing the wrong way and I realised that and I immediately changed my tactics and completed the first game," Sindhu told media after the match.</p>.<p>"Second game I was fine, I was maintaining the lead and finished it off."</p>.<p>Sindhu mixed her strokes well, putting her attacking clears and drops to good use besides smashing her way to finish points whenever there was a chance.</p>.<p>She anticipated the shuttle better and showed good court coverage during the 41-minute clash.</p>.<p>Blichfeldt did have her moments but she was too erratic to sustain the pressure on the Indian, who was always a step ahead of her rival during the contest.</p>.<p>Blichfeldt had a 2-0 lead early on but Sindhu soon took back control at 6-4 and kept her nose ahead before unleashing a cross court smash to enter the interval with a healthy 11-6 lead.</p>.<p>The Danish shuttler scripted a mini comeback, winning six of the next seven points, riding on a few smashes and Sindhu's unforced errors.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/other-sports/chinas-diving-domination-has-olympic-rivals-in-awe-but-also-wary-1014061.html">Read | China's diving domination has Olympic rivals in awe but also wary</a></strong></p>.<p>An unlucky net chord broke the run of points but Blichfeldt sent down two straight smashes to again narrow it to 14-16 before succumbing to a series of unforced errors.</p>.<p>The Indian revved up the pace in the second game to zoom to 5-0 but a wrong line judgement from her ended the run of points.</p>.<p>Blichfeldt tried to find an opening but Sindhu was always a step ahead as she again held a five-point advantage at the break.</p>.<p>After the interval, Sindhu lost a few points due to the occasional brilliance shown by her rival and sometimes, her own unforced error, but she was always in control and soon wrapped it up with a delicate shot near the net.</p>.<p>On Wednesday, Sindhu had defeated world No. 34 Hong Kong's NY Cheung 21-9 21-16 to top Group J.</p>.<p>Sindhu is the lone Indian badminton hope left in fray after B Sai Praneeth's maiden Olympic campaign ended in agony in the men's competition.</p>.<p>He went down in straight games to Mark Caljouw of Netherlands for his second defeat in Group D.</p>.<p>On Tuesday, the men's doubles team of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy suffered a heartbreak after failing to make the quarterfinals despite winning two matches in their group.</p>