CWG 20222: PV Sindhu, Laskhya Sen enter singles final

Last edition's runner-up Kidambi Srikanth on Wednesday crashed out of the World Championships after a straight game defeat to world number 32 Zhao Jun Peng. Kidambi went down against his Chinese counterpart 18-21, 17-21 in a match lasting only 34 minutes. Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen, meanwhile, sailed into the men's singles pre-quarterfinals with a straight games win over Spain's Luis Penalver.

Commonwealth Games champion Sen won his second round match 21-17, 21-10, taking 72 minutes to complete the formality. After trailing 3-4, the ninth seeded Sen grabbed a six-point lead to be 13-7. The Indian continued to stay ahead before comfortably wrapping up the first game. Sen, a world championship bronze medallist, then maintained his stranglehold over the Spanish shuttler and won the second game by a bigger margin. In the second game, the first six points were shared between the two players, but the 21-year-old Indian pulled ahead riding on his superior play. Enjoying a massive nine-point lead at one stage of the second game, it was only a matter of time before Sen completed the job. Last edition's runner-up Kidambi Srikanth crashed out after a straight game defeat to world number 32 Zhao Jun Peng. Kidambi went down against his Chinese counterpart 18-21, 17-21 in a match lasting only 34 minutes. The 29-year-old was out of sorts in the opening game as it took only 12 minutes for Zhao to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The Indian, already on the back foot, tried to up the ante in the second game and led 16-14 but too many unforced errors helped Zhao secure the victory. Earlier, the Indian men's doubles pair of M R Arjun and Dhruv Kapila moved to the pre-quarterfinals but Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy made a second round exit from the prestigious tournament. The unseeded Arjun and Kapila upstaged eighth seeds and last edition's bronze medallists Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark 21-17, 21-16 in the their second round match. They will face Hee Yong Kai Terry and Loh Kean Hean of Singapore next.

Young Indian badminton ace Lakshya Sen sailed into the men's singles pre-quarterfinals with a straight game win over Spain's Luis Penalver in the BWF World Championships here on Wednesday. Commonwealth Games champion Sen won his second round match 21-17 21-10, taking 72 minutes to complete the formality. After trailing 3-4, the ninth seeded Sen grabbed a six-point lead to be 13-7. The Indian continued to stay ahead before comfortably wrapping up the first game.

PV Sindhu finally added that one medal that was missing from an otherwise glittering collection, when she clinched the CWG women's singles gold, downing Canada's Michelle Li in straight games in a 48-minute affair.

It was double delight for India in badminton on Monday as ace shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen delivered gold medals by winning their respective women's and men's singles finals. PV Sindhu beat Canada's Michelle Li 21-15, 21-13 in the 2022 Commonwealth Games women's singles badminton final to win her first gold medal in singles at a multi-sport event. A former world champion and two-time Olympic medallist, Sindhu had won a silver medal at the last Commonwealth Games in singles and also won the silver medal at the Asian Games in 2018.

Indian badminton ace PV Sindhu beat Canada's Michelle Li 21-15, 21-13 in the 2022 Commonwealth Games women's singles badminton final to win her first gold medal in singles at a multi-sport event. A former world champion and two-time Olympic medallist, Sindhu had won a silver medal at the last Commonwealth Games in singles and also won the silver medal at the Asian Games in 2018.