A Slow Start for PV Sindhu: Two-time Olympic medallist and former world champion PV Sindhu shook off a slow start to cruise past Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova in straight games at the BWF World Championships in Paris on Tuesday.
World No. 15 Sindhu looked a little rusty in the beginning but soon found her rhythm, lifting the pace and sharpening her attack to outplay the 69th-ranked Bulgarian 23-21, 21-6 in her opening women’s singles match.
Nalbantova Takes Early Control
The 30-year-old Indian had a rough start, falling behind 0-4 after a few unforced errors. Nalbantova kept the pressure on and built up a 9-5 lead before going into the break with an 11-7 advantage.
PV Sindhu Flips the First Game
After the interval, though, Sindhu flipped the script. She unleashed a string of smashes, including her trademark cross-court winners, to draw level at 12-12. Two mistakes from Nalbantova gave Sindhu a 14-12 lead, but the points kept swinging back and forth.
At 19-20, Nalbantova held a game point but missed her chance, hitting into the net at 20-20. A forehand slice error gave her another shot, but she let that slip too. PV Sindhu pounced, earning a game point and converting it to take the opener.
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Second Game Dominance
In the second game, PV Sindhu came out firing. She raced to a 5-1 lead with sharp, aggressive returns. Although Nalbantova briefly closed the gap to 5-6, her game quickly fell apart as errors started piling up. Sindhu kept her cool and went into the mid-game interval with a comfortable six-point cushion.
Sealing It in Style
From there, it was all one-way traffic. PV Sindhu stretched her lead to 17-5 with a smart mix of smashes and deep clears, while Nalbantova struggled with misjudged line calls and more mistakes.
PV Sindhu earned as many as 15 match points, let one slip, but wrapped things up in style with a fierce smash to seal the win.
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