It was a very easy outing for the Indian shuttlers today on Day 7 of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, 2018. Starting from the women's singles, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu & Ruthvika Gadde played out their opponents in straight sets.
Saina Nehwal was against South Africa's Elsie de Villiers. She took only 20 mins to wrap up the match with a score of 21-3, 21-1 and qualified for the round of 16. It was more of a practice match for her, to prepare for the matches ahead. The longest rally in the match was just 10 shots, which shows the one-sidedness of the match.
PV Sindhu was against Fiji's Andre Whiteside. This was again a one-sided affair and Sindhu got the better of her opponent in just 18 minutes with a score 21-6, 21-3. She has also. qualified for the round of 16. It is interesting to note that Sindhu is the No.1 seed here at CWG'18, so she would be eyeing nothing less than a gold and the toughest competition that can come her way is our very own Saina Nehwal who is the 2nd seed at the games this year.
The third woman from India was Ruthvika Gadde who was against Ghana's Grace Atipaka. She also had an easy game and managed to seal a spot in the round of 16 with a score of 21-5, 21-7.
Coming to the men's singles, Srikanth Kidambi and HS Prannoy were in action for the round of 32.
Srikanth was against Aatish Lubah of Mauritius. He managed to play out the Mauritian in straight sets with a score of 21-13, 21-10. Srikanth would be high on confidence in this competition after defeating.former World No.1 Lee Chong Wei two days back, and would be eyeing to put nothing less than a gold in his kitty.
HS Prannoy was the last Indian shuttler to take the court today. He was against Christopher Jean Paul of Mauritius. This was again an easy game for the Indian who won the match comfortably with a score of 21-4, 21-6 and qualified for the round of 16.
Indian shuttlers are high on confidence after winning a gold in the mixed team event. There are high hopes on them to bring 2-3 more medals to the country. Will be interesting to see how many they can bring home.
We will be back again with our report for Day 8 tomorrow. Till then, keep watching and keep chearing the Indian contingent at CWG'18.