Men's Hockey team, Sindhu, Satish lift India on Day 7 of Tokyo Olympics

In the Tokyo Olympic games, India's campaign got a boost on 7th day when Men's Hockey team, Shuttler P.V. Sindhu, Boxer Satish Kumar stormed into the quarterfinals while Archer Atanu Das entered in the pre-quarter finals

Sindhu storms into quarters

TOKYO: Midway through the first game against Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt in the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday, coach Park Tae-sang told India's PV Sindhu that she was rushing with her defence and should be more patient.

Sindhu, silver medallist at the Rio Olympics five years ago, changed her tactics and scored points at will as she has reached the women's singles quarterfinals, beating her Danish opponent 21-15, 21-13 at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.

Playing aggressive and deceptive shots that kept her opponent on the run throughout the match, Sindhu outplayed Mia in just 41 minutes.

"I started off well. In the first game, I was rushing in defence a bit but my coach told me that I was playing the wrong way and I was able to change how I played. And then in the second game I think it was fine, I maintained the lead and was under control," said Sindhu after the match.

Mia, who was ranked 11th in the world a couple of years back, had sent Sindhu packing from the Thailand Open in January this year though the Indian had won their last encounter, found the Indian star, gunning for gold here, too strong on Thursday and could not play her usual game as Sindhu took control from the start.

Mia saved two match points but Sindhu could not be denied on Thursday and sealed a well-deserved victory.

The 26-year-old said she does not think of the importance of the tournament when playing and takes it match-by-match.

"A lot of people have told me that. I will take that as a compliment. But for me each and every game is important. It's important to focus on every point, and not the match," Sindhu told the BWF, the sport's world governing body, after the match.

When the draw was made, everyone thought that the match against Mia would be the first big challenge for Sindhu in the knoclout stages. But the way she played on Thursday, it appears she is very focused and it will take a lot of effort to stop her.

Sindhu will now face Japan's 4th seed Akane Yamaguchi tomorrow at 1.15 p.m. in quarter finals. IANS

Also Read: P V Sindhu Storms Into Quarter Finals, Defeats Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt

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