Hong Kong Open: PV Sindhu moves into 2nd round

Hong Kong: Indian badminton star P.V. Sindhu set her sights on reaching world number one after she shook off opening-match nerves to reach the Last 16 at the Hong Kong Open on Wednesday.

Last year’s runner-up and current world number three needed a mid-match pep talk from her coaches before beating Thailand’s Nitchaon Jindapol 21-15, 13-21, 21-17.

Afterwards Sindhu, who has become one of the world’s highest paid female athletes since winning Olympic silver in 2016, said she had her eye on the number one spot.

“It’s not going to be easy because there are some players who are coming up. But definitely one day I will be world number one, that’s what I feel,” said Sindhu, who was briefly ranked second last month.

“The top 10 to 15 players of the world are in the same standard, so it’s just on the day who plays well and gives their best is the number one,” she added.

Sindhu, 23, narrowly lost the 2017 Hong Kong final to Taiwan’s world number one Tai Tzu-ying, who has dominated the rankings over the past two seasons.

The Indian player has had a string of disappointments since, losing five straight finals including at the Asian Games against Tai.

Sindhu’s last victory against Tai was at the Rio Olympics, en route to the silver medal which brought a flood of endorsements.